Sonic The Hedgehog, Chaos Vs Order
by ZetaSigmaTeridax
Summary: The First book of The tale of the Keeper, this is my version of Sonic The Hedgehog 2006/360 aftermath and beyond. Please, enjoy, and keep an eye out for book two, coming soon!
1. Chapter 1

**Sonic The Hedgehog: Chaos Vs. Order**

A sonic fanfic

The world of the fanfic:

Earth and Mobius have fused together due to multiple Chaos-Control warps. The events featured are 2 ½ months after Sonic 360/Next Gen/ 2006 (whatever you call it.) Metal Sonic is rather renegade for a while, swaying back and forth between good and evil, but he will have a final decision. I have added several characters; Volt, Valerie, Fatal and Jesse are mine. I made use of the unused characters Ashura and Nazo. I have grafted Sonic X into this, but only because I don't know where to put Sonic and friends besides the ThorneDyke's mansion. Don't worry though; I replaced Chris with the uber-buff Jesse O'Crean as the human who goes adventuring with the mobians.

Episode 1: The Opening Number

In Station Square, nothing stays "normal". Ever since Eggman and the Mobians showed up, the world had changed to include them. Although, the way of things remained untouched, instead absorbing the new environment with ease. Unfortunate for those who became doomed to poverty and homelessness.

Volt, a 9-year old Mobian porcupine, was curled up in a ball in an alleyway downtown Station Square. He was an orphan who had to live on the streets, and his luck had finally run out.

There was no place he could go to get food and be welcome, no one around who knew or cared about him. His choices for survival had come to a halt. He cried as he lay there, wishing that he didn't have to die.

As he was sobbing his way to starvation, he heard a clank on the ground near him. It could have just been someone throwing a beer can down the alley, but he looked anyway.

Volt expected to see more litter, but was shocked to see a long, thin crystal lying atop the ground. It was about a foot long, 3 inches around, and shimmered like one of those chaos emeralds he had seen the hero Sonic holding on T.V.

Being curious by nature, Volt scurried over to the crystal and touched it. Instantly he felt as if someone was watching him, and that that someone knew exactly what he was thinking, and how he felt. Volt also could have sworn he felt that someone smiling at him.

"Child." A male voice said.

Volt removed his hand from the crystal as he looked around to see who had called him, and the presence of the other disappeared. Volt looked back to the crystal, an impossibility going through his head. Had the voice come from the crystal? _No,_ he told himself, _crystals can't talk._ But still, it drew him to it. Volt reached out and touched the crystal again, and the feelings of being watched returned.

"Child." The voice said again. Volt picked the crystal up off the ground and stood to his feet. "Me?" he asked the crystal.

"Yes." Stunned that it had responded, Volt did not know what to say next. "Child, I can feel you are in agony, and that you are unaware of what is going on around you, but I need you to do something for me." Volt suddenly was filled with a new sense of purpose, and an alien energy filled him. "Yes? What do you want me to do?" he asked, now eager to do whatever the crystal wanted. "I am going to give you an image. I want you to close your eyes, and hold the picture in your mind." Volt, still as curious through this strange feeling, quickly asked "an image of what?" Volt heard in his head the sound of chuckling. "An island in the sky." Then the picture came. _That island!_ He thought. He had seen pictures of it on the T.V. in a restaurant he used to sneak into. The voice pulled him out of his memories and back to the now. "Now, close your eyes and imagine yourself standing on that island, then say, 'chaos control'." Volt closed his eyes, imagined himself standing in front of the shrine of the Master Emerald, a place he had never seen but only heard about, and said; "Chaos…Control!" In a green flash of light, he and the crystal disappeared.

At the ThorneDyke mansion, Sonic the hedgehog was standing in the garage, watching his friends Tails and Chuck work on his biplane, the Xtornado. Tinkering was Tails' favorite pastime, and the Chuck wasn't too far behind.

Sonic may have been watching his two friends work, but his mind was elsewhere. He and those of his friends who were Mobian had very recently, about 7 months ago, been on their wildest adventure yet. They got to travel through time, they got to battle a creature of pure destruction, called Iblis, and an evil mastermind known as Mephiles The Dark, who had set up a grand scheme to re-join himself to Iblis, becoming the supposed god Solaris.

Sonic, Shadow, and a hedgehog named Silver had stopped Solaris, and then gone back in time to a place where Solaris was weak, where they destroyed him. All that had thrown them all back to the place in time and space where they belonged, and only he could remember any of it. And to top it all off, Metal Sonic was due for another turn at supervillain any day now.

Sonic got bored sitting still and decided to go outside and see what was going on in the city. Just as he got to the big main hall though, the ThorneDykes' massive doorbell chimed. Mr. Tenaka, the ThorneDykes' butler, came rushing down the stairs and over to the door. "Hello?" he asked, looking outside. Sonic heard him gasp, then heard his own voice ask; "Is this where Sonic stays?"

Sonic knew right away there was only one other person in the universe who sounded just like him, and that person was supposed to be dead. Zipping over to the door, almost knocking Mr. Tenaka out of the way to get past, Sonic came face to face with an exact copy of himself, save only a few details.

Differing only in blue eyes, forest green fur, and three black quills pointing forward like a Mohawk, stood his long-lost brother, Ashura.

"Ashura? Is it….is it really you?" Sonic stuttered, tears beginning to well in his eyes. Ashura managed a weak smile.

"Hello, brother."

"You're alive?" Sonic asked, tears now freely falling from his face. Ashura looked down at his feet as he kicked a small rock off the porch. "Yeah. I'm still alive."

Rubbing the tears out of his eyes and sniffling to clear his nose, Sonic looked back to Mr. Tenaka, who asked; "Mr. Sonic, do you know this hedgehog?" Sonic grew a smile. "Of course I do!" After getting Ashura inside to the living room, Sonic paced back and forth across the room while asking questions of his brother, who sat on the couch.

"So if you're alive, then maybe Dad is, too!" Sonic exclaimed at some point.

Sonic and Ashura's father, Jules, had been against Eggman before either of them had been born. Even Eggman's attempt to 'roboticize' Jules hadn't worked. It is because of his father's example that Sonic so valiantly fights Eggman.

Ashura shook his head. "No. Dad is dead." Sonic stopped pacing in front of Ashura to look at him. "Well I thought you and he were dead, and I was wrong about you, so what if you're wrong about him?" Ashura took a deep breath before meeting Sonic's gaze.

"Because I buried Dad myself." Sonic blinked. "Oh." Sonic closed his eyes a minute, remembering his early years when he had seen his father fighting Eggman. Coming back to the present, Sonic continued asking questions of his brother.

"So how come you are just now showing up at the doorstep?"

Ashura looked away from Sonic, and he began fiddling his fingers as a distraction. "Well?" Sonic prodded. Sweat began to bead on Ashura's brow before he answered, and not even then did he meet his eyes to Sonic's. "Because for most of the time since you left, I hated you." Shocked, Sonic sat down in the chair next to him, his eyes wide, yearning to year the rest of his twin's story. "You left after Eggman put dad down for awhile, taking his place yourself. Dad died, and I thought you forgot about us, and now you were all caught up in being the glorious hero dad had been." Ashura paused, but since Sonic remained silent, he continued. "After the longest time, I realized what dad's last words meant." Now Sonic interrupted. "What were his last words?" he inquired, sounding like a child being told a story by an old man.

Ashura laughed a little to himself, and then looked Sonic square in the eyes and answered. "Go get 'em, Tiger." Sonic laughed a little to himself too, that was just like dad. "I had always thought he meant for me to go get you, to get back at you for leaving us. Then I remembered as I visited his grave about a week ago, I remembered everything he did against Eggman. Then it hit me. Eggman! Dad wanted me to go _help_ you stop Eggman. I felt so stupid!" Ashura's eyes were filled with tears now, which, in turn, made Sonic start to cry. "Sonic?" Ashura asked. "Yeah bro?" Ashura stood. "Can you ever forgive me for hating you, and for not catching up with you sooner?" Sonic jumped over the side of the chair and put his hand on Ashura's shoulder. "Of course, why wouldn't I?" Ashura smiled, his blue eyes sparkling with relief.

And at the worst possible moment, Amy Rose came into the room. She looked, and then looked again. "!"

* * *

Okay, so here it is, the first piece of my massive fanfiction. Please review and critique as you please. Oh, and if you'd like to Beta-read for me, I really need some help with several parts later on in the story. Any and all assistance is appriciated.

P.S. for those of you who have never heard of "Ashura" before, it's Manic with a black mowhawk and a different name. That's all.


	2. Chapter 2

Episode 2: The Shiniest Recruiter Ever!

Knuckles sat in front of the Master Emerald, enjoying his role as its guardian, when he was interrupted from enjoying his duty by the sudden _whoosh_ of someone using chaos control.

Standing down at the bottom of the Emerald Shrine was a small orange Mobian, roughly resembling Sonic, but had twice the quills, and in a much more erratic pattern.

"Hey kid!" He shouted. The other Mobian looked at some strange looking crystal he was holding, then came dashing up the stairs toward the master emerald.

"STOP!" Knuckles shouted. The orange porcupine stopped right in front of him, panting.

"I have to put this....on the…..Master…..Emerald." The porcupine held out the crystal towards Knuckles, as if for him to take it.

"What's your name, kid?" knuckles asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Volt." Was the reply.

"Well Volt, mind explaining what that thing you're holding is, and why you have to go anywhere near the Master Emerald?"

Volt straightened up, and held out the crystal a little further.

"He says it's important." Knuckles leaned down to peer at the crystal. "Who says?"

Volt shrugged. "I don't know, but he seems to know a lot about all this weird stuff about the chaos emeralds, Master included." Knuckles took the crystal from Volt, and immediately his mind was flooded with a powerful presence, paralyzing him.

"Guardian, I require that you place this crystal upon the Master Emerald." Knuckles heard the voice out loud as much as in his mind, so he involuntarily spoke out loud, asking; "under who's authority?" The presence of the other became agitated, and said being responded saying; "There is a dire need of my physical manifestation in your dimension, and I need contact with the Emerald to take a form. Do not think I mean you ill, for I have guarded the power of Chaos Energy for uncounted ages. Now, place the crystal on the Emerald."

Knuckles was taken so off guard by the power of this strange being that he felt compelled to obey, and gently set the crystal down on the master Emerald.

Nothing.

Then the crystal rapidly increased in the magnitude of its glow, becoming nearly as bright as the sun. Before he had to avert his gaze, Knuckles thought he saw the crystal changing shape.

Soon the light faded, and Volt let out a long "_whoooooah!"_

Standing on the master Emerald was a hedgehog, resembling Supersonic, only his fur was like liquid silver, and he was bathed in white fire. Upon his legs he wore trousers made of golden silk, his torso remained unclothed, but he wore a royal blue cape attached to a black clasp fastened around his neck. His shoes were much like Sonic's, but they were all crimson, with no white stripe. His eyes were the same color as Sonic's; a sharp, bright, green.

He nodded toward Volt and Knuckles. Volt was pale with awe, but Knuckles held a better composure. "Who are you!?" Knuckles demanded.

The glimmering hedgehog slimed at them, and spoke, his voice as liquid and serene as his fur. "I am Nazo, and I have much to explain to you, guardian."

Ashura stood there, his twin brother's hand on his shoulder, being screamed at by a pink hedgehog girl, who seemed to have an inexhaustible quantity of air with which to scream at them. Well, more at him, being that she was staring wide-eyed at him, and not Sonic.

"Alright Amy, stop already!" Sonic yelled, barley hearable over Amy's piercing shriek. Amy finally stopped screaming, but she remained where she was, shaking as she stared at Ashura.

"Who is that, Sonic?" she asked quietly, her eyes never leaving Ashura, which was beginning to freak him out.

"Amy, this may surprise you, but you're looking at the brother I never really got to grow up with." Amy finally looked over to Sonic, and Ashura noticed that his hears started beating again.

"Did you say 'brother'? Why do you never tell me these things, Sonic?" Amy demanded, her hands going to her hips as she shot her left one out.

"Mostly because he thought I was dead." Ashura answered, bringing Amy's attention back to him.

"He has your voice too." She said to Sonic.

Sonic shrugged. "I got an ugly past, and I had thought Ashura was one of those who got hurt because of it." Amy, now that Ashura had been identified, decided to try using the normal approach for introductions.

"Oh. Okay, Ashura, I'm Amy Rose, Sonic's girlfriend."

Ashura swung his head over to Sonic, who just blushed and shrugged. "Not exactly, it's uh, it's more like-"He was cut off by Ashura suddenly bursting out in laughter.

"You of all people, actually slowed down enough for that kind of relationship!? That's hilarious!" Ashura has laughing so hard that he didn't see Amy walk right up to him.

_WHACK!_

"OW! What the heck was that for!?" Ashura demanded as he put his hand over the new lump over his forehead. Amy just gave him 'the look'.

"You know what that's for." And with that she proceeded to walk out of the room in a very prideful manner.

"Sorry there bro, she's like that. You just have to figure out how to get around that." Ashura opened one eye at Sonic. "Well how about I let someone else figure it out for me, and avoid further injury."

Back on Angel Island, Nazo had brought Volt and Knuckles to the bottom of the Shrine, where he was explaining the position in which the world was in.

Knuckles was doing his best to comprehend all of the complicated details of what Nazo was telling him, how something big was happening very soon, and Volt had actually fallen asleep.

Nazo was beginning to get tired of trying to make things simpler to understand, and finally gave up.

"Is there someone on this planet that will understand what I am trying to tell him, guardian?" Knuckles thought a moment, then answered.

"Shadow would get what you're trying to say, but no one can just find him, you have to get him to find you."

Nazo raised an eyebrow. "And just who is this Shadow?"

Knuckles sorted through his limited knowledge of shadow's past, and could recall what he guessed would be less than satisfactory.

"Shadow was made fifty some odd years ago to be the ultimate life form, by one Professor Gerald Robotnik, with the help of a powerful alien creep who called himself Black Doom, some stuff that no one remembers happened, and shadow ended up in some sort of stasis for fifty years, and now he's just another Mobian. Well, a really powerful Mobian."

Nazo closed his eyes, searching for someone within a light-year of him with a memories matching what Knuckles had described. After a minute or so, Nazo's eyes flashed open, portraying confusion.

Knuckles couldn't help but ask; "Did you find him?" Nazo nodded, then sat down on a rock near him, taking care to move his cape out of the way.

"Yes, I think I have. However, I cannot get into his mind, he is blocking me with a memory that seems to hold the fibers of his being together."

Volt yawned and sat up, then shook his head. "Anyway, All I got out of it was a picture of a human girl, and the name Maria."

Knuckles snorted. "Yeah, that's Shadow all right."

Volt looked around, licking his lips as he spied multiple fruit trees in the distance. "If no one else minds, I'm going to go see what those trees have to offer, being as that I haven't eaten in like, a week or so."

As much as Knuckles would like to remove Volt from his island, he just couldn't after Volt said he hadn't eaten for a long time. He was just a kid, after all, what harm could he possibly do?

Nazo drew in a breath, then let it out slowly.

"I seem to have discovered another possibility." Knuckles looked back towards Nazo, as he had been watching Volt try to scurry up a tree, then kick it so fruit fell from it.

"Mind sharing this revelation of yours?" he asked, somewhat sarcastically. Nazo stood up and looked at Knuckles.

"Do you personally know this Sonic the Hedgehog? Because your memories would say that you do."

Knuckles jaw clenched and his eyes went wide. "WHY ME!?


	3. Chas Vs Order Episode 3

Episode 3: Eggman's Rip-Off

Dr Eggman was the most intelligent person in the world, or so he'd like to think. He'd almost taken over the world on several occasions, but he always had a little rodent problem. No matter how hard he tried, he could never build a robot that could best Sonic.

Then it hit him.

"I've never been able to defeat Sonic because I keep relying on machines!" He exclaimed, spinning around in his chair to face all of the robots in the room. His two personal bodyguards - though they were more like robots made to flatter him – Diecoe and Bocoe, looked up at him.

"What do you mean by that, Doctor?" Diecoe asked.

Eggman's mouth parted into a wide grin as he rubbed his hands together.

"Every time I build a robot that I'm sure will deal with Sonic, he just smashes it. So, I'm going to give that little rodent a new spin in the competition!" Diecoe and Bocoe looked at each other, and then back at Eggman.

"We don't exactly understand what you mean, Doctor." Bocoe stated, hoping to a more comprehendible explanation for the Doctor's sudden outburst.

"You'll see in time Bocoe. All I need now is a robot with really sharp claws." Eggman returned to his seat, but began pushing buttons on the panels in front of him, a monitor scrolling through his collection of various robots.

"But I thought you said robots won't work?" Diecoe started, but was too lost in puzzlement to pursue the answer.

"QuickClaw, that'll do just nicely!" Eggman said as the monitor showed a robot about twice the size of a Mobian, had the basic shape of a human, but with huge hands, each finger being a long, sharp knife, and a tail with a spearhead tip.

"All I need is a little blood from a certain contender."

QuickClaw activated in the robot warehouse, and his master's voice came into his head, giving him his orders.

"QuickClaw, I need you to do a little shopping for me. I want you to go into the city and wreak some havoc so that blasted hedgehog shows up. Then all I want you to do is get a little blood, then report back here to the Egg Moon. You'll be fitted with little canisters at the base of your fingers, along with needle-tubes running the length of the knives. The minute you have even a drop of Sonic's blood in one of those vials, get back here as fast as you can. Sonic can't breathe vacuum, so once you're clear of the atmosphere you should have no trouble."

QuickClaw saluted, and then rocketed out of the Egg Moon and down to Station Square to complete his sinister mission.

Sonic had spent the last hour or so introducing Ashura to each of his friends, and explaining that Ashura was his brother, and he never talked about him because he thought Ashura has dead, etc. Now he was giving Ashura a tour of Station Square, along with Tails, Amy and Chris ThorneDyke.

The group was outside a downtown café, enjoying lunch while Ashura was telling Amy about how when they were younger, he and Sonic would go play around in bases that Eggman had deserted, and how he would suddenly act like there was one of Eggman's robots behind Sonic, and that it was about to pound him; Sonic fell for it every time.

"And I mean _every_ time! I did it to him like; oh I lost count of how many times!" Amy was incapacitated by laughter, and Sonic would combat him by adding in other details about how he would turn around and do the same to Ashura.

Suddenly there was an explosion in the distance, and as the group looked that way, people came screaming away, while cars and other such large objects were being thrown their general direction. Sonic caught a glimmer of light off of metal, and jumped up to his feet.

"It's hero time!" he shouted. Ashura jumped up after him, yelling; "Hey! Don't you think for a second that I came back just to have you run off again!"

Once they got to ground zero, they saw the culprit of the mayhem, one of Eggman's robots.

"Typical Eggman. Never gives up, but never gets anywhere either!" Sonic jeered at the robot as he dodged a strong swing from one of its claws.

"You kept him at bay by yourself, so he should start packing; we'll send him right out of the ballpark!" Ashura matched Sonic's speed and agility perfectly, which momentarily confused QuickClaw. The robotic brain that gave him function kicked in, and he reasoned, his target was Sonic. Sonic is blue. Ignoring Ashura, QuickClaw concentrated his attacks on Sonic.

Not even five minutes into the fight, Sonic got cocky and sat on the robot's head, taunting at it. QuickClaw was called 'quick' for a reason. Lightning fast, one of the knife-like fingers bolted up and slashed Sonic's arm, drawing blood down it and into the base of QuickClaw's left index finger.

Sonic hopped off, clutching his arm. Without hesitation, QuickClaw rocketed off towards the sky, reaching 2500 feet within ten seconds, and soon disappeared from sight.

"What was that all about!?" Sonic asked angrily. "Is Eggman just trying to insult me by gaining a little ground then running off?" Ashura took a look at his brother's arm.

"That doesn't look too bad, but you might want to bandage it soon." Looking up at the sky where the robot had disappeared, Ashura whistled.

"How often does that happen?" he questioned, and Sonic heaved a sigh before responding.

"There's a first for everything."

Eggman was about as pleased with his accomplishments as he could be as he held a vial that contained half an ounce of Sonic's blood, at least.

"Now that I have Sonic's DNA, I can finally put my plan into action!"

Bocoe looked at the vial as he scratched the top of his head.

"What are you going to do with Sonic's DNA, Doctor?"

Eggman looked back at him, and then turned around leaning against the half-wall next to him, taking up his classical 'I'm so awesome' pose.

"Well, since robots don't work on Sonic long-term, I've decided to do like my grandfather Gerald Robotnik and make an organic weapon against him!"

Diecoe tilted his head to one side. "Are you going to make some sort of virus that will only affect Sonic?"

Eggman pondered that idea for a moment. It was a nice idea, but too complicated.

"No, too much work. I'm going to make my own annoying hedgehog to deal with Sonic. But," Eggman lifted a finger, "Sonic might not be the only barrier. I still have a sample of Shadow's blood, which reminded me that I couldn't just clone Sonic, because between Sonic and Shadow, my clone wouldn't have much of a chance. However, if I clone Shadow, then splice it with Sonic's DNA; I'll have a super fast, super strong, super powerful minion with which I'll remove any obstructions to the Eggman Empire!"

For the next week or so, Eggman would busy himself with creating the perfect anti-Sonic weapon he had ever made! _It won't be long now,_ he thought to himself. Bursting out with his peculiar laughter, Eggman went to his lab to begin the tedious work required of his newest project.

Volt was no expert, but he was pretty sure that leaving a kid alone on a floating island was not something you're supposed to do. Nazo had Chaos-Controlled himself and Knuckles away, probably to Sonic the Hedgehog, Nazo had been saying that he would like to speak with Sonic.

Night had already fallen, and neither of them had come back yet. Volt didn't understand what Nazo had been talking about, something like "Chaos is the peace that holds the universe together", but to him, the chaos emeralds, or the couple of them that were currently at the shrine, were just big, shiny gems.

Volt heard a flapping sound, and went back to the shrine to see if Nazo had come back; he really would like to have his feet on solid ground that was still attached to the rest of the planet.

Upon reaching the shrine, Volt froze. There was someone here, but no one he recognized. She was a Mobian bat, about the same size as Knuckles, and – most importantly – she was taking the three chaos emeralds and putting them in a bag.

"Hey!" he shouted, which failed miserably to sound threatening.

"Those aren't yours! Put them back!" The bat turned to look at him a moment, winked at him, then began to fly off. Volt knew one thing about Knuckles; He did _not_ like seeing the chaos emeralds anywhere but on the seven pillars of the shrine. Volt decided he had to get that bag away from the bat, but the question was, how?

Making a few quick decisions, Volt raced up the stairs of the shrine, leaped as hard as he could, barely making it onto one of the pillars, then leaped again, aiming himself right at the bat. Volt closed his eyes; if this didn't work, he would be a splat on the ground.

Volt collided with the bag, and he instantly hugged it as hard as he could. If he couldn't stop the thief from getting away, he could slow her down maybe long enough for Nazo or Knuckles to come back and help.

"Stop that! Let go!" the bat demanded. Volt shook his head violently.

"Fine then, have it your way." The bat proceeded to spin around in circles until Volt's grip loosened, then she drew him a sharp kick in the fingers. Volt involuntarily let go of the bag and dropped into a tree below, crashing through the branches until the back of his head met with the ground. Barley able to move, it was all Volt could do to just watch the thief get away with three of the things Knuckles protected most.

After the bat, and any hope of gaining Knuckles good will had faded from sight, Volt laid his head back down on the grass and began to cry.

Knuckles was going to kill him.

Volt woke up the next morning disoriented. He had fallen asleep on the cold grass of Angel Island, with several broken bones and covered from head to toe in bruises. Now he was in a warm bed at the back of a room in some building. At the front of the room was Amy Rose, who was well known in her pursuit of Sonic.

"Hey, look who finally decided to wake up." She said. Volt sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in one of the guestrooms in the ThorneDyke mansion. What's your name? I'm Amy." Volt blinked a few times, adjusting his eyes to the dim light of the room.

"I'm Volt." He slid off the side of the bed and inspected his torso.

"I seem to recall being half dead up on Knuckles' Island last night, but somehow I got here and somehow I'm all healed up." Amy stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah you were. Knuckles and that Nazo guy showed up and told us all about some doomsday thing that was gonna happen. Did you know that Sonic has a twin brother?" she paused for Volt's answer.

"No, but what does that have to do with me getting here?" Amy rolled her eyes at him.

"Why don't you come down to breakfast and we'll explain it to you." As if waiting to hear the mention of food, Volt's stomach began to gurgle loudly.

"I think breakfast sounds nice."

Upon seeing the table and all the food on it, Volt insisted that he was in heaven, because he had never seen so much food at once before. The ThorneDykes Maid/Cook, Ella, was very cheery that morning due to Volt's multitudes of flattering compliments on how wonderful the food was.

At the table, Volt further pursued the mystery of his arrival there.

"So how did I end up here in heaven again?" He asked, after swallowing a mouthful of pancakes.

"Nazo brought you back here last night, said he found you on the brink of death near the island's edge. We had him put you in that guestroom you woke up in, and he called a chaos emerald out of nowhere that he healed you with."

Volt suddenly felt special. Here he was, in a billionaire's home, among the friends of the city hero, he had been on Angel Island, and he helped Nazo appear. Yesterday morning, he was sure he was going to die. Today, he couldn't be living any higher. And a lot of his thanks were owed to Nazo.

Just as Volt was feeling a ray of lucky star-shine fall on him, Ella had to ask the question.

"So Volt, where are your parents?" Volt looked down at his feet.

"They uh, they're……..they aren't around."

Amy, Tails and Cream didn't quite grasp what he meant, but Ella understood.

"Oh, you poor thing! How long have you been without someone to care for you?" Volt looked up to his plate of half-finished food. "Since I was six."

"How old are you now?" Amy asked.

"Nine."

Just then, Ashura walked into the room, yawning.

"Morning everyone, sorry I slept in so late."

Amy set out a plate for him, and Ella piled five pancakes on his plate.

Ashura quickly devoured the pancakes, then said he was going to go look around town. After he left, their conversation continued.

"Why don't you stay with us?" Cream asked. Volt shrugged.

"I guess, it's not like I have anywhere else to go. Unless I would be a burden." Ella came over to him and ruffled his quills.

"I don't think you'd be a burden at all."


	4. Chaos Vs Order Episode 4

Episode 4: Just When I got Comfy

Nazo knew only a little of why he was needed here; something about this Master Emerald was going to happen, and it was going to be bad. The Emerald's guardian, Knuckles, as they called him, was completely oblivious to a secret about it; there were also another six Master Emeralds, each with their own set of chaos emeralds. Nazo's purpose was to make sure no one could abuse this power, but it was still to be seen that any other emeralds were discovered.

Nazo had three suspicions; Sonic would do something that led down a path to villainy, the military rule in this region, the G.U.N., would try to utilize the chaos emeralds and with them, the Master emerald as a weapon against the planet's aggressor, Eggman. Or Eggman would get all the emeralds and utilize them against the planet.

In any case, Nazo was here to stop whoever tried to take the Emeralds for their own ends. Nazo looked up toward the sun. The star's beauty was unmatched by any other star within sight, but for some reason, Mobians and Humans alike could not bear to look at it directly.

As he was standing there, Volt, the little Mobian porcupine that had helped him enter this plain of existence scurried up onto the roof and sat next to him.

Volt tried continually to look at the sun, but could not. Finally Nazo looked down at him and smiled.

"Yes, child?" he said, radiating comfort in his tone. Volt rubbed his eyes, trying vainly to eliminate the large purple spots in his vision.

"I uh, I just wanted to say thanks." Volt replied, and gave Nazo a half-smile.

"I do not understand little one. It is me who should be giving you thanks." Volt tried to process that in his head, but couldn't. Volt shook his head a couple of times before responding.

"What I meant was that I was going to die before that crystal-thingy showed up, and now I've been invited to stay with one of the greatest heroes of this age! And none of it would have happened if you hadn't shown up."

Nazo put his hand on Volt's head.

"Well, I can see where you would thank me for that. You're welcome." Gaining a smile to his face, Volt stood, and Nazo removed his head from Volt's brow.

"Why exactly are you here, Nazo?" Volt's curiosity seemed to have no end to Nazo, but thank God for him, he had the patience of a thousand kings.

"I am here to watch over this Master Emerald in the coming crisis."

Volt looked confused. "What do you mean _this_ Master Emerald? Isn't there only 1 Master Emerald?"

Nazo blinked.

"No, there are seven." Volt's eyes became approximately 3 times their normal size

"SEVEN!"

Ashura had taken an immediate liking to Station Square. The city was full of diverse groups of Humans and Mobians living in harmony. Humanity seemed to have something programmed in the back of their head that said, "If it talks, it's an equal."

Ashura wasn't like Sonic too much, he could slow down and enjoy the place he was in before running off. He spent a lot of time downtown; there was always someone new he would meet. Ashura had thought that everyone knew what Sonic looked like, but apparently not. He had to explain that he was not Sonic over and over again every day until he felt like the whole world knew who he was.

Most Mobians didn't care; he was just another person to them, which he liked.

As he was sitting on a bench at an internet café, Ashura saw a group of girls in school uniforms, both human and Mobian, come walking down toward the café he was at.

One girl in particular stood out to him; a purple raccoon with big, brown eyes and an attractive shape. She was the most beautiful thing Ashura had ever seen.

Knowing that he must be blushing, Ashura turned around and stared up at the sky, hoping to avoid notice.

No such luck.

"Hey, isn't that Sonic the Hedgehog?" one of the human girls was pointing at him as she looked at her friends.

"Yeah, I think it is!" a Mobian squirrel agreed with the first.

"No, Sonic is blue." One of the other Mobians stated.

"Yah, and that dude has a cute Mohawk."

_Cute?_ Ashura looked towards the group and sure enough, the raccoon girl he had taken notice of was taking notice in him, being as she was the one who called his Mohawk 'cute'.

She was also waving her fingers at him.

Ashura tried to make a conscious effort not to smile of blush, but failed at both miserably.

"Well if he's so cute, why don't you go tell him?" the squirrel said. Ashura looked back up at the sky, trying to remain where he was and not dash away.

"No! I'm way too shy." The group got into a chatter of teasing and girly-babble, as Ashura called it, until they convinced the raccoon to go say something to him.

She came over slowly, looking over her shoulder continually to see if her friends were still there. Eventually she was standing over Ashura.

"Hi, I'm Valerie. What's your name?" Ashura was blushing like crazy. At least half of his body's blood had to be in his cheeks.

"I'm Ashura." He changed his posture so he could clearly see both Valerie and the rest of the girls, who were giggling up a storm.

Valerie blushed, nowhere near as deeply as Ashura, but it was still a blush.

"I like your hairdo." She managed to say.

Ashura couldn't take it anymore. He was W A Y too shy for this. So, with speed that equaled Sonic's he bolted, knocking over the bench and whipping a powerful wind past Valerie.

The first girl who had spoken teased at Valerie.

"Aww, you scared him off."

After Nazo had told Volt that there were seven Master emeralds, he ran down to the garage and told Tails that Nazo said there were a whole bunch of master emeralds, and in turn Tails had told Sonic, who told Amy and Ashura.

Now the only ones who needed to know who didn't were Knuckles and Shadow. Not that getting to Knuckles was a problem, but Shadow always disappeared at the end of every adventure.

Tails, Sonic, and Nazo were headed up to Angel Island So Nazo could say everything he wanted to say about the Emeralds all at once.

While Tails, Sonic and were in the Xtornado, Nazo flew alongside it, his cape billowing in the wind ferociously.

The flight to Angel Island was quick and uneventful, save a few acrobatic maneuvers by Nazo when they flew in among a flock of birds.

Once on Angel Island, Nazo laid out his knowledge of the Emeralds.

"I believe the customary way to start this on this world would be to say, Gentlemen; welcome to Chaos Emerald History 101." Nazo smirked as he said this. The rest of the 'lesson' Nazo illustrated by manipulating light via chaos energy.

"There are Seven Master Emeralds, sharing the colors of the Chaos Emeralds, Green," Nazo gestured at the Master Emerald Shrine. "Orange, Blue, Red, Gold, Purple, and White or gray. Each Master has seven sub-emeralds, or the chaos emeralds."

"You mean to tell me that there are more chaos emeralds?" Knuckles interjected.

"Forty-nine, to be exact." Knuckles jaw dropped.

"Is there anyone to watch over them!" he demanded.

"Of course. There is me, the Keeper of all light Chaos power. There is also a guardian for each of the Master Emeralds." Nazo replied. "However, the civilizations fostering the Emeralds are kept far away from one another, so you and I are the only guardians aware of this fact." Knuckles scratched his head.

"You call yourself the keeper. What exactly does that mean ?" Tails asked.

Nazo smiled. "I am to watch over the distribution of this power throughout all creation." Tails nodded, but was quick to another question.

"If you're like a 'higher rank', then why did you say that you and Knuckles are the only guardians who know about the other emeralds?"

"I am a 'higher rank' but personally oversee the white Master Emerald." He replied. "So that technically makes me a guardian, too. Anyway, the seven Chaos Emeralds of the white Master Emerald resemble it perfectly in all but size, and generate a significantly higher amount of power compared to the other sub-emeralds, as does the Master Emerald itself."

Now it was Knuckles who asked a question again.

"What about Dark Chaos Emeralds or just Dark Chaos Energy in general?"

Nazo smirked. "My administration does not reach into that power. Dark Chaos power is negative in frequency to light Chaos power, and is governed similarly by its own Keeper." Sonic, who had experienced Dark Chaos Energy first-hand, shuddered.

"Why does it make you more powerful than if you use normal Chaos Energy?"

Nazo held up a hand. "That's where you're wrong. You _feel_ more powerful, but that's only due to the nature of Dark energy. It wants you to stay with it, and making you feel that it is superior is one of the most effective ways. Getting back the original subject; No one knows for absolutes where The chaos Emeralds came from, or where Chaos Energy itself comes from, so that, along with any questions you might have, will complete our class." Nazo smiled as he called them his 'class', and Sonic couldn't help but smile too.

"Just one." Knuckles said. "Where'd _you_ come from?"

Nazo's eyelids half-closed as he looked off into the far distances of space.

"I do not have any memories of a childhood, or if I had parents. My earliest memory is of me sitting on an ornate chair, looking into the white Master Emerald, the chaos emeralds swirling about me." Nazo continued to stare off into space, a strange emptiness in his eyes. After several minutes, Nazo came around and dismissed the trio.

Eggman sat in his chair, a glass of expensive champagne in his hand. He had done it! He had successfully improved the design of the ultimate life form and created his own tool with which to expand the Eggman Empire to beyond the Egg moon!

Eggman took a swig of the champagne and pushed a button on the panel he was sitting next to.

The large metal tube about thirty feet in front of him opened and slid down beneath the floor to reveal a glass stasis pod with a blue hedgehog inside.

This hedgehog would be far different from certain other blue hedgehogs. Its quills were in the same style as Shadow's, but the accents all over his body were black, well contrasting his navy-blue fur. His face was constructed more like Sonic's; with a mouth built for the perfect smirk. He lacked the wrist bracers that Shadow wore, nor would Eggman give him any. Shadow's bracers were made so Shadow did not use up too much power at once and hurt himself. This version would have no limits on his maximum potential.

Eggman gulped down the rest of his champagne as he walked over to the glass tube. He stood there a moment, wondering if his grandfather would be proud of the improvement to the ultimate lifeform.

He entered a key code into a number pad set into the side of the stasis pod and it opened, releasing the hedgehog from his slumber.

The hedgehog fell forward, and Eggman caught him. Setting him down on the ground gently, he backed off as the hedgehog woke up for the first time.

"Uhhhhhhn…." He groaned. His hand went to his head, and he slowly opened one of his eyes. Eggman smiled, not his normal, devious smile, but a warm, welcoming smile, showing a side no one but this hedgehog would ever see.

"Hello there." The hedgehog looked up at him, and seemed to relax a bit.

"Who are you?" he asked, dropping his hand from his head.

"Well my name is Ivo Robotnik, but I prefer to be called Eggman." The hedgehog looked down. "Oh." He studied his shoes, a variety of utility boots made for balancing endurance and dexterity.

"Who am I?" asked the hedgehog. Eggman cocked his head to one side. He hadn't given any thought to what he would call him. It came to him though, that most male Mobians had as a name one word that well summed up their personality.

"Your name is Fatal. I built you as the second version of the Ultimate Lifeform. You should be getting some memories from your predecessors now."

Sure enough, Fatal's hands went to his head as he saw memories from both Shadow and Sonic, but only selected ones that Eggman had chosen.

An image of Metal Sonic flashed through Fatal's mind, and he realized that he looked very similar the robot.

"Am I the Next step from Metal Sonic?" he asked out loud.

"Only if you decide that I'm not worth keeping around, my boy." Eggman replied as he put his hand on Fatal's back.

"Aside from being your enemy, what is Sonic like in a day-to-day sense?" Fatal asked as he looked up towards Eggman. Eggman shrugged.

"I wouldn't know. I don't spend time around him when I don't have to." Fatal continued to ask more questions for the next hour or so. Eventually, Eggman guided Fatal out of the laboratory/workshop, taking him around the Egg moon, introducing him to all of the more intelligent fighting machines of the Eggman Empire, including a prototype robot that resembled the Egg Emperor suit, but with many modifications.

Eggman swelled with pride inside. Nothing could possibly stop his plans now. The only thing that stifled his joyous moment was realizing the parental situation he had put himself in when Fatal had said, "I'm hungry."

"_Maybe robots aren't so bad after all…"_ Eggman thought…

* * *

**Hey Guys! Sorry it took so darn long for me to get back to this, but school, church, and life in general kinda got in the way!**

**Anyway, I'll be posting episodes rather frequently now. Just remeber guys, if you subscribed, Review! If you didn't subscribe but liked the story, Review!**

**If you read the story and thought it was total crap, REVIEW! Also, I need Beta Readers, because writing a completely self-constructed storyline is kinda hard. I have no game adaptations, so I have my own story that forks away from the games after the 2006 one.**

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	5. Chaos Vs Order Episode 5

Episode 5: Morality of a metallic dream

Unit 02 of Eggman's alpha AI program, the next generation up from Emerl with the intelligence of Eggrobo. Programmed to attain Victory at all costs. Ordered to destroy Sonic the Hedgehog. Failed over and over again.

Metal Sonic summed up his life in those few sentences. He had been designed as Sonic's match, the robot to finally bring him down. He had almost succeeded the first time, then again as Metal Overlord, but had never been able to beat him.

Metal had searched long and hard for the answer to defeating Sonic, but there was no weapon, no means to destroy him anywhere on the planet.

But Metal had finally found the answer. The last thing Sonic had said to him was that he could never beat Sonic and friends because they were heroes. Metal had taken that very seriously. No historical record of good vs. evil ever ended with evil emerging as the victor. Heroes versus Villains, Heroes win every time.

Interesting still, Metal had found that his programming demanded victory at all costs.

It did not say over whom.

Metal 'lived' in Moscow, Russia disguised as just another citizen thanks to his ability to shape-shift. Even here, in the most rugged nation in the world, Metal had found that what passed off here as good usually came out of any conflict as the victor.

So Metal had had a revelation. Just because he had been designed for hatred and war, who was there to tell him that he couldn't be something else. After all, he evolved in all other aspects, why not the aspect of character? But how would he do it? Some of the people of Earth had forgotten his past transgressions, but to just show up out of nowhere playing the hero, most people would accuse him of some new devious plan to take over the world. Arriving in the place he called home; an old and abandoned hotel in which he had constructed a recharging pod, Metal shed his false form and again was the robotic clone of Sonic.

Going down a flight of stairs, Metal thought through how he could possibly change his ways and be accepted as 'a new man' so to speak.

Upon reaching the basement, Metal plugged a wire into his head. His vision changed from his surroundings to a television cast, with him controlling the channel by will. Russia didn't have very many Mobians, as they didn't like the cold very much. However, a Mobian citizen of Russia had won the Nobel Prize for an invention that would replace the current air conditioning. Metal found it amusing that an improvement to an artificial environment could win a Nobel Prize, but it did not last long is his mind, as he pulled the plug on his makeshift T.V. and once again ran over his systems.

His wrist flowered open to reveal an arsenal of lasers, miniature missiles, and even a small chain gun. Weapon systems were in good working order, and further diagnostics showed the rest of his systems in perfect order, as always. Metal stepped into his recharge pod and began to shut down as the pod closed over him and connected into his ports. The world became dark as Metal shut down for the night, With Metal's last waking thought a wish for opportunity to kick down his door instead of knocking ever so gently.

Volt was a welcome addition to Sonic's friends, reminding both Sonic and Ashura much of themselves, being that he was a free and curious spirit. In the last few days, Volt had been enrolled in a school, and he now had a whole group of friends. He wasn't the smartest kid in class, but he was the most popular. Everyone wanted to be his friend because of his close proximity to Sonic. Volt most enjoyed the weekends, however, because he could be out around town and see places he hadn't been before.

Today was Saturday, and Ashura had volunteered to take him around town. They had already gone to a movie together, and now Ashura was taking him to his favorite café, which just so happened to be the one he had met Valerie at.

Ashura bought a chocolate shake for Volt, who sat at a table nearby as while Ashura went to his favorite bench. It was about the same time of day as it had been when he had first seen Valerie, and whether he would admit it, he kind of wanted to see her again, even if only to apologize for dashing off like he had.

Sure enough, Ashura saw Valerie walking towards the café he was at, but she hadn't seen him yet. Jumping up, Ashura walked over to the table Volt was at, slurping down his milkshake, and sat down.

"Careful, you don't want to get brain freeze." He advised. Volt shook his head. "Already got that, nothing weird since." Ashura started laughing at Volt, mainly because most people stop devouring ice cream for a minute if they get brain freeze.

Valerie heard Ashura's laughter before she saw him. She had been expecting him to be sitting on the same bench, but then again she had only seen him once. He was with a small, orange version of himself, probably a little brother of something.

She walked up the three steps onto the café's porch, and sat down on the bench that Ashura had been on before, waiting.

Ashura sat patiently for Volt to finish his milkshake.

"So where do you want to go next?" he asked. Volt thought for a minute. "Well I don't want to keep going to fancy places to eat or I'll end up fat, so... how about a museum? I haven't ever been to a museum." Ashura nodded, and sorted through a couple of the museums in Station Square.

He was about to speak when Volt spoke first.

"Hey Ashura?" he started. "Yes?" Volt shuffled his feet a couple of times. "That girl over there is uh, staring at you." Ashura looked behind him, toward where Volt was pointing, and sure enough, Valerie was sitting on the bench he usually sat on, waving her fingers at him like she had a few days ago.

Ashura looked back to Volt.

"How long has she been there?" Volt shrugged. "Like, two minutes maybe."

Ashura turned around to face Valerie. "So, you've ever been to the museum?"

_Metal Sonic stood atop a tower in the Mystic ruins. He had just publicly declared that he would no longer pursue the destructive ways he was meant for, and that he would assist the heroes of the world in protecting it against any threat. The people had responded with an uproarious applause._

_Then a hedgehog appeared to him. The hedgehog resembled Supersonic, but his fur was like liquid silver and he was bathed in white fire. Upon his legs were richly woven pants made of golden silk. His upper body was unclothed, but his back was adorned with a royal blue cape, attaching to a black chain clasp around his neck._

"_Who are you?" Metal said, feeling an enormous sum of Chaos Energy radiating from him. The hedgehog smiled. "My name is Nazo. Are you the one they call Metal Sonic?" Metal nodded as he crossed his arms. "I am."_

_Nazo floated onto a pillar near metal and stood upon it._

"_You wish to become a hero?" Metal nodded. "I do." Nazo held out a hand to him, and a bridge made of light formed itself between the two pillars._

"_Then come to me, Metal. Come to me, and embrace the light."_

_Suddenly Metal was at the Master Emerald Shrine, but the world seemed twisted and evil. A black hedgehog with eyes like a demon stood upon the Master Emerald, and he radiated a power of his own._

"_Who are you?" Metal asked. The hedgehog laughed a deep resonating laugh that made the Master Emerald groan in fear._

"_I am Mephiles. Mephiles the Dark." Mephiles did not wait for Metal's reply. "Do you wish to fulfill your purpose and vanquish your enemy?"_

_Metal hesitated. "Come to me Metal, come, and embrace the darkness!"_

_Metal looked behind him to see Nazo still standing with his hand outstretched. "The choice is yours, Metal. What destiny do you choose?"_

_Metal looked back to Mephiles, then to Nazo. His vision altered so that on the left of his vision, Nazo stood with his bridge of light, and on the right, Mephiles and the defeated Master Emerald._

"_Come to me Metal Sonic. Come." They both said at once._

Metal 'woke with a start' or in his case, turned on very fast. His internal chronograph told him that it was 3:27 AM. _I had a dream._ He thought. _I never have dreams._

The dream held a sense of reality that Metal could not understand. And what did this mean? Was he malfunctioning? Or was he actually experiencing some kind of subconscious fight over his future? Or was it possible that both Nazo and Mephiles were trying to ally him? And who were they, anyway?

Metal decided that since the dream had involved the Master Emerald, he would go and see what was happening there. Since machines require no sleep, and Metal had no belongings, he left at once.

He traveled westward, against the earth's rotation so he would get there faster. After around ten hours of flight, Metal saw the familiar beach of Station Square on the horizon.

It was 9:00 in the morning, so Metal would have to be careful to avoid detection from either the G.U.N. or military satellites.

Metal descended toward an island off the coast and cut his engines twenty feet above the ground. Landing with a loud thud as his heavy feet met the earth, Metal scanned the area around him for any life signs. Nothing worth being concerned over.

Metal looked up toward the sky, looking for the dot that was telltale to Angel Island. One thing still concerned him; what the heck was going to happen if he got up there? Would knuckles try to get rid of him? Not that Knuckles on his own could do so, but if the others were there, as unlikely as it was…..

_Then again,_ Metal thought, _If this Nazo is anywhere around, or Mephiles, then they will want me in one piece. I hope._

Metal located the Island and took off, his engines quickly carrying him to the speed of mach 2.

Metal slowed down as he approached, to the point where he hovered just off the edge of the island. Floating inward, Metal cut his engines again and landed, softly this time, on the fresh, green grass.

Metal began walking carefully toward the center of the Island, highly aware of everything going on around him. He was in a thick part of jungle when his sensors picked up the energy distortion of a chaos-control jump.

Whipping around with his wrists fanning open to reveal 3 lasers on his right and 2 missile launchers on his left, Metal was shocked beyond measure by what he saw.

Standing there, his arms folded and a smile on his face, was Nazo.

Ashura had invited Valerie along with him and Volt to go see the museum, and she took him up on it.

Volt was enjoying himself thoroughly, his curious nature taking him this way and that, spending periods of time at each exhibit, leaving Ashura and Valerie to talk.

"So the other day when you ran off on me?" Valerie said, implicating that she wanted to know why Ashura had bolted. Ashura blushed.

"You were with a group, and I'm rather shy." Valerie looked over at him, her big eyes sparkling.

"Well you're amongst a large group of people now and you're not running away." Ashura looked back at her. "You're teasing me." Valerie giggled. "So what if I am?" Volt came back to them, yammering on at Ashura about a picture of some weird rock labeled "The Rosetta Stone". Volt went on and on about other things in the museum, then stopped suddenly.

"Is it just me, or are you blushing?" Valerie began giggling again, and Volt scratched his head. "What? Did I miss something?" Ashura shrugged. "You could say that." Volt cocked his head to the side. "Oh. OK." And with that, Volt proceeded to dash off towards something else of interest in the huge museum.

"So, do you have a cell phone?" Valerie asked. Ashura almost burst out laughing, but managed to contain it.

"Usually, the guy asks the girl for her number." Valerie batted her eyelashes at him. "Well, I'm not the usual girl." Ashura couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he didn't respond.

"Are you going to answer my question?" Valerie said, now adding puppy eyes to the mix.

"Yes I have a phone. Its—"Ashura was cut off by his phone ringing with the song 'Barney's on fire'. "Speak of the devil." He said. Bringing it out from under his glove, he opened it to see who was calling. Chris ThorneDyke.

"Hello?" Chris was obviously moving, Ashura could hear the wind whipping past through the speaker.

"Ashura come back to the house right away! Metal Sonic's back!"

Chris sounded panicked, and with all he's been through, that actually took quite a bit.

Ashura had only ever been told about Metal Sonic, but from the stories, Metal was obviously superior to any one of Sonic's friends alone, including Shadow.

"All right, but It might take a little longer than you'd like, Volt's still with me." Chris shifted so the wind wasn't in the way so much. "All right, but we can't wait forever. TTYL" With that, Chris hung up. Ashura put his phone back in his glove, turned to tell Valerie he had to go.

She handed him a piece of paper with a phone number on it. Ashura just stared at it.

"Well don't just stand there Mr. Hero, get going!" Ashura blushed, but nodded.

"VOLT!" about two seconds later, Volt dashed past him, then turned around and came back.

"Yeah?" Ashura put his hand on Volt's back. "Time to go! Hope you're fast, Volt!" Volt grinned. "I'm fast enough."


	6. Chaos Vs Order Episode 6

Episode 6: And So It Begins…

Knuckles could be, at times, welcoming and kind. He dealt with Nazo taking up temporary residence near the Emerald Shrine, but what he would not tolerate was the 'guest' Nazo had brought there.

"No! I'm not letting that robot anywhere near the Master Emerald! I don't even want him within sight of it!" Nazo had brought Metal Sonic to the Emerald Shrine, and Knuckles was relentlessly insisting that Metal come no closer. Nazo had been trying to tell Knuckles that Metal was here because he wanted to change who he was, but Knuckles wouldn't have it.

"I'll believe it when I see it. Until then, get that _thing_ out of here!" Knuckles stressed the word 'thing' with a bitter contempt, and Metal involuntarily went into an inner rage, and then paused.

_Raging at Knuckles will only prove him right, I must control myself. I must change._ Metal grappled inwardly with his darker side until he had his emotions back under his command.

Nazo was defending Metal vigorously.

"I swear to you, Knuckles, no harm or ill of any kind will come to The Emerald due to Metal Sonic." Knuckles crossed his arms.

"Oh? And why should I believe that?" Nazo folded his arms also.

"Because he came to _me._" Knuckles rolled his eyes.

"He could have just come up here to try to get his filthy little talons on the Emeralds." Nazo closed his eyes.

"No, there was… something, someone trying to drive him the other way, down the path of darkness."

Metal took special notice to that sentence, and interjected.

"You really were inside my head?" he asked. Nazo looked over his shoulder.

"Yes Metal." He answered his tone as welcoming as he had been in Metal's dream. "Me and another, as I'm sure you are aware." Knuckles cracked his namesakes.

"I don't care what happened, that robot isn't getting near the Master Emerald." Nazo sighed, turning.

"It would seem that you are unwelcome here for the time being." Metal nodded.

"Then we will have to find somewhere you will be welcomed." Nazo drew in power to his voice, and then released the energy with a command.

"Chaos Control." Nazo and Metal disappeared in a green haze.

Knuckles marched back up the steps to the Emerald. "Good riddance."

Sonic, Ashura, and Tails were all in the ThorneDyke's garage planning on how they could prepare for Metal Sonic's inevitable attack when the fur on the back of their necks stood on end.

There was a flash of green light, and then Nazo was standing among them, Metal Sonic behind him.

The three heroes took up fighting stances, ready to thwart any treachery of Metal.

Nazo laughed. He laughed for three or four seconds before regaining his composure.

"There is no need for such hostility." He said. "Metal is here for far different reason than you might think."

Sonic crossed his arms, a sight Nazo was quickly growing tired of seeing.

"So what's the deal now, Metal?" Nazo looked back towards Metal, indicating for the robot to speak for himself.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Sonic." For a long moment there was silence as the blue hedgehog and his counterpart stared into each other's eyes, a clear resentment present in both of them.

Nazo's eyes dropped to a half-lidded state.

"This is going to take some work."

Ashura, who had been staring silently at Metal this whole time, shifted his view to his brother, and was horrified to see a deep-seated aggression directed at Metal that bordered on hatred. Seeing a mirror of his former self made Ashura shudder. Sonic looked over to Tails and Ashura and his anger subsided. Whatever Nazo was doing with Metal, he was confident that it was for good, not evil.

Ashura shook his trembling out of his system and walked around Metal, inspecting him. Metal was the most advanced piece of machinery he had ever seen, impressive even for Eggman. Ashura came to a stop in front of Metal, meeting the robot's gaze, but with a much more welcoming air than Sonic.

"So you're this Metal Sonic everyone keeps talking about?" Metal made no reply. Ashura's eyes went to Metal's hands. Each finger was an articulated talon that tapered to a razor-sharp point. In the center of each of Metal's palms was a small iris-like cover, likely opening for when metal used Chaos-based attacks. All in all, Metal struck Ashura as someone he would rather not have as an opponent; Metal outclassed him in every way possible.

"Are you done admiring me?" Metal said impatiently. "I have many more important things to do that to be drooled on by another Sonic look-alike."

Ashura burst out laughing. Metal jerked backwards a step, caught off guard. Everyone but Nazo was staring at Ashura. Nazo never took much part in anything; he always seemed to be straining his thoughts into some other part of his strange agenda. Ashura was rolling around on the floor now, tears falling from his eyes.

Finally, after two minutes and several long breaths, Ashura regained his composure and stood to his feet.

"I'm sorry." Ashura said, wiping a straggler tear from his eye. "But your lack of information Sonic is a look alike of me. I'm older." Sonic snorted. "By less than a minute, big whop."

Metal again did not move, but he took the opportunity to scan Ashura and absorb his data. To his slight dismay, Metal found nothing in Ashura that he hadn't gleaned from Sonic a long time ago.

"As I'm sure you can gather from that, Sonic and I are twins." Metal nodded.

Just as it seemed Metal would say more, Nazo suddenly fell to one knee, releasing a shout of pain.

"That's not…not possible!" he growled. The others had all come over to him now, save Metal, who remained unmoving, but had turned to face Nazo.

"What's wrong, Nazo?" Tails asked, wide-eyed. Nazo put his hand over his forehead.

"How can he be in more than one place?" he groaned. Sonic squatted so that he and Nazo's faces were at the same level.

"Who can't be in two places at once? What's going on Nazo?" Nazo opened his eyes and met Sonic's gaze.

"Shadow." He said. "He's coming here. I think he believes that I'm trying to control him. He's coming here from the mystical ruins, but at the same time, he's drooping down to Paris from the Moon."

Metal Sonic had slowly and silently crept over to the rest of them, surprising them when he spoke.

"Not even Chaos-control allows the user to have multi-existence." Sonic and Ashura helped Nazo to his feet while Tails ran upstairs to the attic where his radar machine was. Meanwhile Metal continued.

"The only possible explanation for your dilemma is that one of the two beings you think is Shadow is not Shadow, merely a copy." Metal thought for a second before amending his statement. "Or a decoy."

Tails came bursting into the garage. "Sonic! Eggman's invading France!" Sonic smirked. "He never learns, does he?" Nazo stood on his own now, but he still seemed to be having trouble.

Sonic looked at Ashura, silently asking for his company. Ashura nodded. Sonic looked back to Metal, who still stood silently. "Metal, since you aren't wreaking havoc, would it safe to assume that you're on our side?"

Metal looked at Nazo. "For now."

Fatal had spent his first week training and learning, now Eggman had deemed him ready. He was sent with seventeen battalions of Eggpawns, twelve squadrons of Dreadnaughts, and an impressive array of Eggunners, a smaller but more heavily armed version of the battleships of the Egg Fleet.

Fatal and his master's army had landed in what the humans called Paris, France and they were doing an excellent job of taking over. Fatal himself had to do very little, the sheer number of Eggman's robots were far too much for the G.U.N. to combat.

But what Fatal hadn't expected was Sonic to bring in his own small army. He recognized some from memories he had inherited, others from his studies. As he watched from a high point on the Eiffel Tower, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and the turncoat robot Metal Sonic began to push his army back to the ruins of downtown Paris. Fatal had a fleeting wonder about why Metal Sonic would be helping Sonic instead of trying to kill him still, but dismissed the thought as it was not his concern.

There was one Fatal did not recognize, however. He was a hedgehog, in every way he looked and fought just like Sonic, but his fur was a dark green, and three quills shot forward and out from his brow like a Mohawk.

Scoffing, Fatal dropped from his perch to ward off these obstructions.

Knuckles never liked being dragged into any of Sonic's fights, but when Eggman launched a full-scale invasion on a nation, he was happy to tear apart anything that pointed a gun at him. Knuckles was smashing Eggpawn after Eggpawn with unrivaled strength when they stopped coming his way, diverting their forces toward one of the other Mobians here, probably Sonic.

Knuckles was about to go after them when he say why they diverted. After a group of them had shambled by, a hedgehog walked out of the smoke toward him. Knuckles mouth gaped at what he saw.

The face was built like Sonic's, but the rest of him looked like Shadow. His fur was navy blue, with black highlights to his fur where Shadow would have red. He did not hold the rage and malice that Shadow could not keep from his eyes, but there was a solid determination that was just as potent.

"You must be Knuckles the Echidna." He said. Knuckles took up a fighting stance.

"Yeah, that's me. And what are you? You look like a freak cross between Sonic Shadow and Metal." The other seemed to almost lose his self-control.

"My name is Fatal." Knuckles blinked, just the perfect time for Fatal to move. Knuckles was stunned by Fatal's speed, and had not the time to react before Fatal firmly planted a foot in Knuckles back, shoving him forward onto his belly.

"And here I thought you were a great warrior. I almost was in awe of you when I studied you." Fatal came around front of Knuckles. "It looks like my expectations of your strength won't be met." Knuckles suddenly snapped out his hand in an attempt to grab Fatal's leg, but Fatal was faster than Knuckles could think. Fatal dealt Knuckles a kick to his side, rocketing him off towards a crumbling building. Fatal did not even give gravity enough time for Knuckles to start sliding down the wall before he punted Knuckles into the air.

Scoffing, Fatal charged up a Chaos Spear, an innate ability he would have to thank Shadow for someday, just before he killed him with one. Launching the spear up at the falling Echidna, Fatal continued on to the next target.

"Weakling." Fatal whispered to himself as Knuckles' smoking and unconscious body fell to the ground.


	7. Chaos Vs Order Episode 7

Episode 7: Shadow + rage = BOOM!

Nazo had taken it upon himself to watch the Master Emerald so that Knuckles could go with the others and thwart Eggman's threat. As it was now, Nazo was less concerned with the Master Emerald and more concerned with Shadow, who he could now distinguish from the other just like him, as he had been listening through Knuckles' ears when the other introduced himself as Fatal.

The silence of Angel Island was ended with a green flash and a _whoosh_.

Shadow the Hedgehog had arrived.

"So you finally come to see me Shadow." Nazo said. Shadow was not in a very talkative mood. He walked halfway up the steps of the Shrine and stopped.

"Who are you?" he demanded. Nazo stepped down from atop the Master Emerald. "Call me Nazo." Shadow grimaced. "Are you another one of those idiots who claim to be a god and need me for some kind of world domination?" Nazo stood, unwavering. "No."

Shadow snarled, his anger rising. "Then why do you try to control me!" Nazo sighed; his eyes seeing right through Shadow as if he was not there.

"I do not try to control you." Shadow tensed, his inner rage fueling every corner of his body with power.

"You try to get into my mind, my last and final sanctuary and dare to say that you are not trying to control me! Before you started hammering away at me, I had finally found peace. But now, you will suffer my wrath!" as Shadow spoke, His form was bathed in a hellish red glow as he drew in power from the Chaos Emeralds on the shrine. Nazo did not move, did not do anything, which agitated Shadow even further.

Shadow could take no more. Whoever this fool thought he was, No one got in his head and lived. roaring savagely, Shadow launched himself at Nazo, dashing up the rest of the Shrine in less than a second.

Shadow was a flurry of black and red around Nazo as he struck Nazo again and again with a furious passion.

Nazo still did not move.

Finally, Shadow stopped in front of Nazo, grabbing Nazo's throat with one hand and pulling back a punch with the other.

Now Nazo moved.

Just as Shadow threw his punch, Nazo lifted his arm faster than Shadow thought possible and caught his fist, holding him effortlessly. Next Nazo grabbed the wrist of Shadow's other hand and removed the hand from his throat as easily as if Shadow had the strength of a newborn child.

Shadow tried with all the effort he could to push Nazo away or to break Nazo's hold on his wrist, but to no avail. His body now was so drenched in the glow of dark Chaos energy that he appeared totally red, putting one of Shadow's most devastating powers to use.

"CHAOS BLAST!" The power released from Shadow, a ball of chaos power expanding from him, and finally pushing Nazo away. Once the blast had subsided, Shadow looked toward Nazo should be. He wasn't there.

Shadow was experienced enough to know what came next. Whipping around, Shadow was prepared for a blow to the head, stomach, or legs.

Shadow was right that Nazo was behind him, but again Nazo stood still.

Shadow was enraged that Nazo dared to taunt him, and powered up a Chaos Spear in each hand. Binding them together as one by clapping his hands together, shadow called on his power again.

"CHAOS SPEAR!" The projectile shot away from Shadow, towards Nazo.

Nazo caught the head of the spear in his hand as easily as he had caught Shadow's fist. Flexing his fingers, Nazo crushed the spear from existence. Shadow bared his teeth at Nazo with a feral hate in his eyes. Nazo floated around Shadow, who turned to keep his eyes on him, and landed atop the Master Emerald and just stood there.

Shadow glared at him for a moment before seeing that all seven chaos emeralds were present in the Shrine, not just the few he was using to fuel his semi-super form. Calling on the power of all the seven Chaos Emeralds, Shadow felt his strength increase by the millisecond, his power growing just as fast. His fur became a bright gold-yellow, and he was bathed in a golden fire that mimicked Nazo's.

Shadow smirked at Nazo. If Nazo had been subject to a chaos blast before, Shadow had a secure victory in his super-form.

Shadow flew up from the shrine and backwards away from Nazo. He hung there for a moment, and then shot forward like a bullet.

Nazo drew back his arms as Shadow drove toward him, coiling for his first and last offensive strike in this conflict. Shadow put out one of his fists, aiming right for Nazo's face.

Just as Shadow came over the last step of the Shrine, Nazo thrust out his hands, jarring Shadow in the chest, just on either side of the tuft of fur on his chest.

A tremendous boom resonated over the air, and Shadow hung at the end of Nazo's outstretched arms, his eyes and mouth open wide.

Shadow's fire faded and his fur turned through darker shades until his super-form had dissipated, and he lay at Nazo's feet.

Nazo hoisted him onto his shoulder and chaos-controlled Shadow and himself to the ThorneDyke's mansion, where he laid Shadow in the room next to the one in which he had laid Volt, and informed the ThorneDyke's maid of his presence. After securing that Shadow could be clearly identified via chaos signature, Nazo returned to Angel Island and waited for the morning.

Fatal had systematically taken out Knuckles, Tails, and the green version of Sonic, so all he had left was Sonic and his robotic counterpart, which would be the hardest for him; Sonic and Metal were vigorously competing with each other, doing more damage to his forces than the other three combined. Fatal decided to create a strategy to eliminate their threat before jumping in on them, one reason that Sonic and Metal were both almost as fast as him, another that Metal could think faster than the speed of light, Sonic at least the speed of sound.

Fatal had just finally come up with a plausible way to separate them when Metal announced to Sonic that they were the last ones standing against Eggman's forces here. Metal quickly convinced Sonic to cut his losses and get their fallen comrades to safety.

Lightning fast, Sonic and Metal gathered up their comrades and escaped in their jet, Metal flying alongside it.

Fatal scoffed at them, how they fled like cowards, and was about to leave when he heard the familiar sound of the Eggart, Eggman's personal go-mobile.

"Excellent work Fatal! You made those little rats run back into the holes they came from on your very first try!" Fatal smiled, being encouraged by Eggman refilled the little of what energy Fatal had used. Fatal jumped up onto the Eggart. Eggman ruffled the quills on the top of his head, ruffling the navy blue and the black together in a strange marble pattern.

"Now that we have a firm establishment on the planet, the true expansion of the Eggman Empire can begin!" Eggman drove his hovercraft off toward the mobile headquarters, meanwhile Fatal fixed his hairdo.

The next morning, Volt, Amy, Cream, Sonic, and Tails were all crammed in front of the TV, watching the havoc of Eggman's army on the news.

France had been completely taken over in one night, and large bases were already being constructed to create still more troops for expansion.

Shadow came into the living room, his eyelids heavy. Amy was the first one who noticed Shadow standing behind the couch, mostly due to the fact that his eyes barley made it over the top.

"Look who's finally decided to wake up." The rest of them turned their attention towards him. He grimaced. Volt jumped up onto the top of the couch, beaming.

"I wanna say that it's completely and totally awesome for me to meet the ultimate life form." Volt held out his hand for Shadow to shake it. Shadow did no such thing, but came around the couch so he could better see the television.

"So what's this? I stop fighting for a few minutes and suddenly all of you forget how to handle a few robots?" Shadow closed his eyes for a moment.

"Fools."

Tails, having experienced first-hand why they had lost, spoke up.

"Actually Shadow, it's not how you think. There was..." his voice trailed off as he saw Shadow staring wide eyed at the TV. The other hedgehog that had attacked them was being displayed on the screen.

Silence gripped the living room save the reporter's monotone voice.

"And just when was I going to be told about this!" he demanded. Sonic stood and walked over towards the kitchen.

"There's plenty enough that you need to be told, Shadow." Sonic stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

"But you'll never find out if all you do is fight with the ones who'll tell you." Shadow knew right away that Sonic knew about the fight between him and Nazo last night. Shadow redirected his attention towards Tails.

"So who is this look-alike serving as Eggman's new stooge?" Tails wanted to get some support from Sonic, but he had already gone to the kitchen.

"He called himself Fatal. He took me out in less than a minute." _Not that that's any real accomplishment._ Shadow thought.

"I took a Chaos Spear to the ribs, and that was the end of it." Upon hearing that this Fatal not only looked like him, but could make use of _his_ signature attack stirred up his anger.

Only one or two things could have made Shadow angrier than what next was announced on the news however.

"…And so, to meet this threat, the G.U.N. is officially utilizing the space colony ARK, and it is assumed that they will make use of the colony's weapon, the Eclipse Cannon, to decimate Eggman's hold on France."

"How dare they!" Shadow snarled. "No one is going to defile the resting place of Maria as long as I live!" and before anyone could say anything, he was out the door and well on down the street.

Shadow skated out of the city and down the freeway that would take him towards area 99, the G.U.N's main base of operations. Shadow's early days were dark, and the ARK was, as far as he was concerned, sacred ground. No one was getting near it unless he was dead.

Shadow was so deep in his rage that he did not notice that he was no longer alone.

Metal Sonic flew alongside him, the jets in his feet keeping him just off the ground while his primary engine drove him forward.

Shadow bared his teeth at the robot, the second worst person to find following him.

Shadow slowed to a stop, Metal Sonic followed suit.

"What do you want!" he demanded. Metal looked off towards where he knew area 99 lay.

"I'm going with you." Shadow eyed the robot suspiciously.

"Why? Does G.U.N. have some technology you haven't absorbed data from yet? Are you having the delusion that you're getting on the ARK? Give me a good reason to have you along. Because the way I see it, I should just blow your head off right now."

Metal indulged in a few chuckles before looking back to Shadow.

"You can't stop me, for one. For another, no one on this planet has anything that could improve me. Yet another reason would be known to you if you were not so judging and had asked Sonic what he meant."

Shadow paused, stunned. How did Metal know what Sonic had told him only a matter of minutes ago? That aside, Shadow was loathe to admit that Metal was probably right that an attempt to barge in and destroy any means of getting into space was doomed to fail.

"Perhaps I could use your company. I might need a distraction somewhere in the base." Metal did not reply any farther than resuming his flight to area 99. Shadow could not think of how things could get any worse as he skated off to catch up with Metal.

Metal Sonic knew that Shadow could get into area 99 as easily as he wanted to, but Metal also knew that the chances of him destroying the whole place and killing anyone inside of it was also the most likely outcome, and no one else was as capable of stopping Shadow from doing such a thing as Metal.

Shadow came abreast with Metal again. If there was a first step towards changing himself so he could fulfill his need for victory, it was keeping as many of those people in the base alive as possible. However, he did not like the idea of the Eclipse Cannon being pointed at whatever the government decided to blast any more than Shadow.


	8. Chaos Vs Order Episode 8

Episode 8: No door can stop determination

It was a beautiful day, but Knuckles was in a sour mood. That hedgehog last night had defeated him faster than even Shadow could. He hadn't taken a beating like that since the battle with Metal Overlord. He should have told Nazo that he would have to go instead. As it was, Nazo was just standing around like he usually did, pondering the great questions of life or whatever.

What bothered him though was that Fatal, as he called himself, struck him as some advanced type of Shadow android, but the androids had never been able to handle chaos energy.

As if he knew what Knuckles was thinking, Nazo walked up the stairs of the Shrine and leaned against one of the pillars there.

"Don't be so angry at defeat, Knuckles. You didn't know what you were dealing with, so how could you have been prepared for it?"

Knuckles grunted. It wasn't' that he just lost; it was that he lost to one of Eggman's freaks. Knuckles was not happy as it was, and Nazo's sorry attempt at making him feel better was failing miserably.

"Don't you have something better to do?" Knuckles asked, sounding annoyed. "Like interrogating Shadow or something?"

Nazo sighed at him and turned to leave.

"Maybe. But he and Metal are inside of area 99 right now." Nazo now had Knuckles full attention.

"You can't be serious!" he blurted. Nazo simply looked over his shoulder.

"Of course I can be serious." And with that, Nazo chaos-controlled himself away, leaving Knuckles to digest what he had been told, if he could.

Ashura sat on the bench of his favorite café, just sitting there like he usually did. People halfway across the globe were fighting Eggman, who had now taken over France and had his eyes set on Spain, but Ashura couldn't just _be_ there, so he enjoyed the relative quiet here in Station Square.

Yesterday he had run off on Valerie because Metal Sonic had appeared, but for reasons they had not expected. He liked Valerie, and so he wanted to apologize for running off like he had. Thinking back, Ashura realized that he seemed to be making a habit of that.

Ashura sat there for a good ten minutes before he remembered that Valerie had given him a paper that had on it what he assumed was her phone number. Removing his cell phone and the paper from his glove, Ashura dialed the number written. No one picked up.

Ashura put his phone away along with the paper and lay down, closing his eyes.

"Hey there, handsome."

Ashura woke to Valerie standing over him, smiling.

"Sorry, I must have dozed off."

Valerie giggled.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" Ashura sat up and gestured.

"No, not at all." She sat down next to him, and stared up to the sky. Ashura looked up as well, and they sat there for a couple of minutes before either of them spoke.

"So Eggman's taken over France." Valerie said, making small talk.

"Yeah. And he's got some new weapon that just kinda batted everyone aside." Valerie looked over at him. "Oh? How do you know what that madman has up his sleeve?" Ashura hesitated, realizing he hadn't told her who he was yet.

"Because I was there." He looked at her, their eyes meeting. "I don't think I told you yet, but it was important for me to go when Metal Sonic showed up because, well, Sonic the Hedgehog and I are twins." Valerie just stared at him.

"You're kidding with me." She looked away from him, disbelief in both her voice and eyes.

"No, seriously!" As if convenience was both for and against him, Amy Rose came around the corner with Cream, Cheese and Volt just as he finished talking.

"Hey Valerie, do you know who that is?" he pointed towards Amy, who hadn't seen them yet. Valerie looked to where Ashura was pointing.

"Duh! That's Amy Rose. She's like, the most envied girl in the world!" Now Ashura was doubtful.

"The entire world? Yeah right." Valerie looked back to him.

"Every Mobian girl out there has a killer crush on Sonic and she's one of his closest friends." Putting that out of his head, Ashura went back to his previous subject.

"Would you believe that I'm Sonic's brother if she told you?"

"Yeah, but I bet she's never seen you before."

Ashura grinned slyly.

"We'll just see about that." getting up, Ashura started walking towards the oblivious pink hedgehog.

"Hey Amy!"

Metal Sonic clawed down a door that blocked him off from Shadow and continued on through the gauntlet of camera-turrets that lined the hallway. He and Shadow had already torn through seven levels of the base, and they still had no idea with what means the G.U.N. were getting into space.

4 squads of Big Foot walkers, 8 dozen beetle attack droids and plenty of mechs later, Metal and Shadow found the main computer room, a large open library that stored all of the G.U.N's software and idle hardware.

"Don't get any ideas Shadow." Metal said as he saw Shadow measuring up the large stacks of data disks.

"I was about to say the same thing." Metal walked past Shadow and over to a terminal.

"You wound me."

"Deeply, I do hope."

Metal stopped for a moment, his personality matrix demanded that he fire back a strong retort, but his free-will program wouldn't allow it. Finally his will overcame his programmed attitude and he resumed dealing with the main computer, attempting to get it to tell him where and when the G.U.N. was launching to the ARK.

Unfortunately, Metal's pause in his careful pursuit announced his presence in the computer to the security systems, and the mainframe quickly quarantined itself from all other systems, booting Metal Sonic back into his body.

"That seemed pointless." Shadow remarked as he watched Metal's eyes flicker on again.

Metal looked back at him for a moment before turning fully.

"That's not the half of it. The mainframe sealed itself off from any other programs, so we can't get the data we need without breaking through, which will consume time we don't have." Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Way to go, ace." Metal's personality matrix flared up again, and his will was not fast enough to stop his response.

"If you continue to speak that way to me I'll—"Metal was cut off by the sound of the door's hydraulics' system opening it.

A lone man stood in the doorway, tall, thin – but plenty well muscular – covered from head to toe in articulated body armor, and a green beret adorned his head. More importantly, he was pointing a 45. Auto-mag right between Shadow's eyes.

Neither Metal nor Shadow moved, if they even twitched, the Green Beret would fire.

Shadow broke the silence.

"Friend of yours, Metal?"

"Ha ha."


	9. Chaos Vs Order Episode 9

Episode 9: That's right, I'm cool too!

Metal Sonic went through several possibilities in his head on how to disarm the Green Beret before either he or Shadow was injured or worse.

As it turned out though, all three contenders were having the wrong conclusion.

"Did they leave you two in here to deal with me if I got this far?" the man said. Shadow blinked, surprised.

"What are you talking about?" The man relaxed a bit, he was apparently feeling as cornered as them.

"I take that as a no." the man lowered his massive pistol and walked in, shutting the door behind him.

"Would you mind explaining yourself?" Metal asked, his tone augmenting itself to be slightly kinder in the monotone it was.

"My name's Jesse. Six hours ago I was part of a hush-hush special ops team of soldiers trained on using chaos energy." Metal and Shadow exchanged looks, but Jesse continued as he inspected the door for a way to seal it, making the fire escape the only escape.

"Someone in the higher-ups decided that our little project was too risky at best, and ordered it shut down. And in case you're not familiar with the way that works in the military, that means all participants shot." Shadow's eyes narrowed.

"Then why are you still alive when your comrades are dead?" Jesse shrugged.

"Can't say that they're dead yet. But as to me running away from the rest of them..." Jesse found a panel in the wall that covered the door's left hydraulic engine.

"I don't feel expendable." He fired his magnum at the bar and it slit in two, hydraulic fluid gushing out like blood from a fresh wound. Shadow sighed.

"Not like that'll take too long to open." Jesse shot him a look.

"Well I've spilled my guts, now what are you doing here with the likes of _him_?" Jesse gestured at Metal Sonic with his gun. Shadow looked back at the robot, who was weighing up his chances if Shadow decided to off him.

"I can't seem to get rid of him." Facing Jesse again, he continued.

"I'm here to disable the means that G.U.N. intends to get on the ARK." Jesse shook his head.

"Then you're in the completely wrong place. They're hitchin' a ride with NASA." Metal Sonic had been silent this whole time, but he could not bear the wound his pride had just taken.

"You mean we came all this way for nothing!" he spat, his eyes glowing intensely. Jesse's eyes flicked to Metal Sonic's superior arsenal that would flower out of his wrists whenever he willed.

"Why again, are you working with that monster?" Jesse asked Shadow,

though his eyes never left Metal Sonic.

"Like I said before, I can't seem to get rid of him. However, I sense an air of repentance around him, like he's doing this to redeem something." Metal was surprised, only slightly, but still surprised, that Shadow had felt his artificial emotions and dared to support him, even though his past crimes still weighed heavy on his name. Metal Sonic's moment of softness was jerked back to the conversation suddenly.

"You mean he's doing some Rehab?" Jesse waved his hands around as he spoke to express his idea that both of them were completely insane.

Suddenly the door clicked, and the sound of the door's one good side struggling came out like nails on a chalkboard. After a few unsuccessful tries, the door stopped trying to open and voices were heard from the other side.

"Someone get a demo team down here! I want this door gone!"

Jesse looked at Shadow, then Metal Sonic, then Shadow again.

"I think it's time we made our leave." He said as he strode over to the fire escape. Shadow crossed his arms while his face became a look of mischief.

"We? Metal Sonic and I could just Chaos-Control ourselves out of here right now and leave you. By the way, you have yet to give me good reason to consider your company."

Jesse stopped. But when he turned around, his face bore a broad grin, not anger or fear, as Shadow expected.

"Remember how I told you my platoon was trained in how to use Chaos Energy?" Shadow made no response. "Go ahead and teleport away, you'll just be giving me a much faster escape." That said, Jesse proceeded to pull the orange Chaos Emerald from inside his jacket.

Shadow gaped; he should have been able to sense the emerald's presence before. Metal was likewise stunned, but was quicker to recover.

"How did you get your hands on that?" he hissed. Shadow stuttered something under his breath, and then his eyes shrank to thin slits.

"How is it that you have a chaos emerald when I say all seven of them present at the shrine just last night?" Jesse shook his head again before giving his hearty reply.

"What kind of idiocy would it be to give secrets away to one who is not yet an ally?" Jesse tossed the emerald into the air, and then caught it when it descended. Metal stirred.

"The demolition team is less than 1 minute away." He announced. Jesse cocked his head to the side.

"So what's it going to be, Mr. Ultimate life form?" Shadow grumbled a curse to the crazy man and his family.

"Fine. Have it your way." He placed his hand on the emerald, and motioned for Metal to do the same.

"Chaos Control!"

Nazo had expected them, of course. He stood with his arms across his chest on the roof of an old abandoned Eggman base that had been mostly destroyed by Sonic ages ago. The roof was perfectly flat, due to the fact that when the base had been active, the roof could slide into the walls so that hordes of Eggman's robots could be released at once.

Shadow and Metal Sonic had not come here alone, though. There was a young human with them, in his early twenties at most. Nazo had been waiting for Shadow to Chaos-Control for over an hour, his powers allowed him to force Shadow here when he did.

Their momentary daze gone, Metal Sonic, Shadow and Jesse all looked at their surroundings.

Shadow was shocked. He was in a jungle that covered an island not too far from Angel Island, and his intended destination was downtown New York City. Looking to the others, specifically Jesse, for answers, Shadow found both Jesse and Metal Sonic staring transfixed at something. He turned, and all at once his rage, fear, and confusion exploded in him.

"Hello there." Nazo said, his mouth curved in a smile. "I've been meaning to talk to you for a while now, Shadow." Shadow, on the other hand, felt more like blasting off Nazo's head, reconstructing it, then blasting it off again.

"What is it with you and your dire need to 'speak' with me! Have I not made it clear to you that I want no part in whatever you are planning!" Shadow threw a hand out to the side, yellow lightning arcing between his fingers.

"Be gone!" Shadow threw his hand forward. "CHAOS SPEAR!"

Nazo sighed as he caught the spear by the head.

"Tsk Tsk. Have we not been over this already?" Nazo crumpled the spear in his hands, molding it into something else.

By now Metal Sonic and Jesse had retreated to the far side of the roof, each trying to shelter themselves behind a too thin pillar.

Nazo looked down to what he was doing with his hands, reshaping the spear like play-dough.

The color changed over and over until it rested on red, then Nazo flung his hand out.

Shadow brought his hands up, forming a shield of Chaos energy in front of him. The re-formed spear never left Nazo's hand.

Instead of holding the shape of a spear, Nazo had turned the energy into the form of a rose in its peak-of-bloom.

"All is not how you think, Shadow." Nazo said, his voice soft and welcoming, like a cool stream that washed away Shadow's rage.

The chaos rose faded away.

"What…what are you?" Shadow stammered, his shield depleting.

"That is a story for another time. But as to now, as you have suspected, I ask for your help." Shadow tensed again, thinking that Nazo had meant to disarm him.

"I do not ask for what you presume, though." Nazo sat on the stub of a radio tower next to him. (next to Nazo, he didn't move toward Shadow yet.)

"The Master Emerald has called me here because it has foreseen danger to itself and the other emeralds." In the distance, Metal and Jesse exchanged looks.

Not wanting to share his secret with just anyone, Nazo pointed at each of the two spectators in turn and they were chaos-controlled away.

"You think that by the other emeralds I mean the chaos emeralds. You are wrong."

Shadow crossed his arms, his composure returning to him, along with his suspicious gaze.

"What do you mean?" Nazo stood and walked a few steps closer. In his mind, he knew because he heard without seeing Nazo's lips part, he was answered.

"There is more than just one Master Emerald. There are seven. Each one of the colors of their seven chaos emeralds." Shadow stepped back from Nazo, shocked.

"There's….." he trailed off. Nazo nodded.

Aloud, Nazo continued. "Something is going to happen to them, soon. Something evil is coming, though I have yet to find out what."

Shadow, continuing his untrusting pose, continued to fire questions at Nazo.

"And you need my help to figure out what?" Nazo shook his head again.

"You could the cause of this upcoming evil, or the cure. I cannot even be sure that you are either, but as the Ultimate lifeform, I must ask for your aid in protecting the other Master Emeralds." Shadow looked back to where Metal and Jesse had retreated, but there was no trace that they had even been there, as was normal to chaos control.

"If I refuse?" Nazo shrugged.

"Your part in this will come to an end. I will find others." Shadow's vision returned to Nazo, the corners of his sight brimmed red.

"My part will not be over until I have assured that every being in the world knows not to defile the ARK!" Nazo was slapped by Shadow's sudden resolve so hard that he flinched.

"Very well. I will send you to your ARK." Shadow's eyes opened wide as he realized what Nazo was going to do. He lunged, but again he was far from a match.

"Chaos control." Shadow disappeared in a splash of green light.


	10. Chaos Vs Order Episode 10

Episode 10: Behold the Darkness!

Metal Sonic came out of the Chaos-Control warp three hundred feet above the ocean below Angel Island. Maybe Nazo was not as accurate at long ranges.

Being almost two hundred lbs, Metal tumbled through the air very fast. Almost too late his jets kicked in, saving him from the unforgiving depths of the sea. Now only ten feet above the water, Metal hovered in place, calculating what he should do next.

A thousand feet above him was Angel Island, a thousand yards in front of him was Station Square. Metal decided that he would head into Station Square, because if he shape-shifted he could pass on through, but Knuckles welcomed no one.

Once inside the city, Metal put on the façade of the average businessman. Recalculating for his next maneuver, Metal deduced that the best action was to find friends of Sonic and wait for Nazo to return, he wasn't much in the way of helpful to a "hero's cause" without him. As much as he regretted it, the only Mobians in the area that knew Sonic was the Chaotix Detective Agency, so there he must go. _Some days I feel like I should just self-destruct._ Metal thought to himself as he grimly set out toward his destination.

Fatal was neither Shadow nor Sonic, so their memories plagued his mind as they battled for supremacy over his own memories.

Fatal tussled in his bed, undergoing one such torment when all his thoughts were cast aside, giving no heed to their origin. Another invaded his mind, powerful, cunning, evil.

_Amusing._ He heard. He woke instantly, the foreign mind still gripping his.

_Hmmm. Most impressive. The scientist has outdone himself._ Fatal fought hard to gather a shred of will, not caring what the other being thought about that.

_Don't try to fight me, mortal. I am a god._ Fatal's scavenged will was cast aside as easily as his memories were. Fatal's pores were pouring out sweat, drenching his bunk.

"What do you want with me!" he screamed. The other mind radiated deranged amusement.

_What I want with you? You are worthless. But you will tell this… Eggman, when I arrive, I expect no opposition from him._ Fatal managed to gain enough control over his body for him to roll off the side of the bed and rub his eyes.

"Who are you?" he whimpered. The answer came in form of a laugh. A howling, sinister noise that made Fatal tremble and curl into a ball.

_I am Mephiles! Mephiles the Dark!_ The other continued his terrifying mirth. Fatal was bombarded with a freezing wind that seemed to only affect him. Chilled to the core, Fatal cried out for mercy.

"I'm only a child!" he squealed.

_You think I am unaware of any corner of your being? Cringe, mortal, Cringe!_

Fatal's nerves received many different sorts of pain, all based on the creativity of Mephiles. Fatal screamed again and again, each second feeling like an eternity.

Due to all the screaming, one of the more powerful types of command robots that patrolled the area thrust the door open.

"What is the cause for all this wailing!" It demanded. Distracted, Mephiles loosed his grip on Fatal's mind. Fatal was aware of one final snarl, then Mephiles was gone as suddenly as he had come.

Meanwhile, the robot had picked Fatal up into its' arms.

"Commander! Snap out of it, commander!" is said, the volume increasing to just outdo Fatal's screeching.

Hearing a familiar voice, Fatal's screaming receded into whimpering. The sentinel robot, a heavily modified version of the giant, hammer-wielding Eggpawns, called "Titan" closed his hand around Fatal and marched back outside. After establishing a heavier set of patrols, the Titan rocketed off to the Egg Moon, Fatal safe in a compartment in Titan's chest.

Nazo had felt it, not too far away. The same consciousness that had been present in Metal Sonic's mind when he had first contacted him, but it was harassing, no that wasn't the right word, terrorizing, destroying the mind of some innocent lifeform. Nazo seized the intruding mind from outside the victim's consciousness, and had been quickly repelled. He had, however, obtained a short visual burst from the alien mind. The being itself was formed similar to Shadow, but the figure was warped, flawed, and otherwise disfigured. Around it was a Master Emerald Shrine, all seven Chaos Emeralds belonging to the residing Master present. The residing Master Emerald was the violet one. Nazo tried to draw something, anything, from it only to discover that he could not find it, like dialing a telephone number that did not exist.

Nazo was infuriated. One of the Master Emeralds had fallen and he had done nothing to stop it. Drawing in as much concentration as he could, Nazo's form melted away, dispersing into nothing.

He became aware of the familiar tumbling sensation that occurred when traversing dimensions, then his vision exploded into an even more familiar sight, his throne room.

Nazo stood in the absolute core of this dimension, the Chaos dimension. Chaos power was as common and plentiful here as air space is in any other dimension. As much as he would have liked to sit and rest on his throne, again undisturbed by the abuse of this power, Nazo summoned up the portal to the Violet Master Emerald. All seven Master Emeralds were all in one dimension, the one he had just left. But the scene coming from the Violet Emerald was dire. All around was destruction. What few beings were still alive were all of a broken will, a broken heart, and a broken mind. Nazo reached into the portal, again somersaulting through dimensions and landing inside the Violet Master Emerald.

Nazo looked around. From the inside he could see the entire world around him, as if he was in an observing dome made of glass. Behind the Emerald Shrine, blasted into the mountain that it jutted out from was a huge black palace.

The palace was roughly the shape of a fire, but frozen in time. Spires wrapped up and around each other to make the intricately detailed flames.

Its beauty would have awed Nazo if he had not sensed a deep, malevolent evil emanating from it.

Passing through the barrier of the Master Emerald, Nazo emerged into a planet that had been overcome by darkness. There were no stars visible in the night sky, but nothing was blocking the view to the sky either.

It was if something or someone had just snuffed them out.

It did not take long before Nazo's mind was picked at, a leeching presence that groped at his thoughts, determined to enter the confines of his mind but doomed to fail. The tendrils came from a being inside the dark palace, so Nazo began walking up the newly carved stairs toward it. With each step,

Nazo became angrier and more saddened at the same time. Who would do such a think to this sacred place? Who could?

Nazo reached the massive gated entry to the dark palace. Before he could push them open though, they opened themselves.

The gates opened into an enormous courtyard. Standing in the very center of the courtyard however was the being radiating all the Darkness around him.

"Welcome to my temple, creature of light." The voice was not so much spoken as it was simply just _there_. Nazo stared at the hedgehog, at least, that's what it appeared to be, and said nothing.

"Tell me my guest, why do you disturb my glory?" Nazo blinked, and the hedgehog was suddenly but four feet away.

Nazo was slightly surprised, but not enough so that he was stunned.

"What have you done to the Emeralds?" he asked, his voice cool and liquid. The other laughed.

"I have made them my own. They will serve no one but me." Nazo raised one eyebrow. The other continued.

"I am sure you would like to know the name of He who was able to break the will of a Master Emerald?" Nazo's eyes narrowed to slits. He began drawing in Chaos energy into him, powering up for a mighty defense of offense, whichever ended up being needed more.

"That would be a start." He said. The other spread his arms wide, and black fire erupted from his palms.

"I am Mephiles the Dark! I am the master of time! I AM GOD!" finishing his statement, Mephiles let loose an inferno on Nazo. Nazo was not slow enough to be caught, however. The power he had built up burst out into a thick shield, encasing his body in a dense armor. The onslaught passed harmlessly over Nazo. Nazo loosed his shield and drew it in for a blow.

Mephiles had other ideas. Calling upon his innate abilities, he froze time. Expecting this to be an unavoidable maneuver he was fully unprepared when Nazo released his sum of energy. Being infused the essence of Chaos Energy, Nazo was immune to the stopping of time. A large ball of energy had formed between his hands, and he hurled it at Mephiles. The attack exploded on contact, breaking Mephiles' hold on time and launching him far away from his palace.

Nazo cared not for what happened to the self-proclaimed god, his concern was the Emeralds. Chaos-controlling back to the Shrine, Nazo placed his hands on the violet Master Emerald and began to untie it from Mephiles' bonds.

Because it was conformed to Mephiles' will, Nazo was assaulted with resistance. He would have been able to overcome it, but the Chaos Emeralds began to fight him as well. Nazo was only able to push back the resistance, but could not free the emerald, due to its struggles.

Mephiles was no fool. He knew he must be rid of this keeper of Chaos and

be rid of him now. Fortune was with him though, for Nazo's concentration was fully upon the enslaved Master Emerald. Extending his will, Mephiles commanded the power of the Master Emerald, fused with power of his own, to banish Nazo from this place.

Nothing, at first. But then Nazo's strength wavered, and in an instant, he was gone, banished back to his own realm.

Mephiles floated over to the Master Emerald, elated. If he had had a mouth, he would have been grinning.

_HA HA HA HA HA!_


	11. Chaos Vs Order Episode 11

Episode 11: The Roads that Run Together

Shadow came out of the Chaos-control jump moving just as fast as he had entered it. He was in a dark room, heading straight for a wall. Spinning his body around, he landed feet-first on the wall before jumping of onto the ground.

Shadow took a moment to get his bearings. He was indeed aboard the ARK, but in one of the outer storage rooms. Nazo must not have had the time or power to bring him farther in. Either that or he didn't want to.

Shadow walked over to the door at the other end of the room and fondly ran his hand over the control panel. Pressing the "open" button, Shadow looked at the door, preparing his eyes to adjust to a sudden change in light.

The door slid apart, revealing a good twenty G.U.N. workers scattered around the room, all of which froze with terror upon seeing Shadow in the doorway.

Shadow grappled with his anger, appalled by their presence on the final resting place of Maria. He finally bit his anger down enough to keep himself from going berserk, but could not keep away his raging eyes and dark smile.

"Well well. Looks like my ARK has a pest-control issue." Shadow dropped one of his hands back and arched his fingers inward slightly. Yellow lightning began to travel between his fingers, indicating that he was holding a Chaos Spear.

All of the workers ran for their lives.

Metal Sonic stood in front of the small office that was the current headquarters of the Chaotix. He had been standing there in his false form for five minutes, his mechanical brain swarming.

What would he say to them? How would he let them know that he was Metal Sonic? Should he let them know who he was? If they attacked him, how should he go about defending himself?

Metal was acutely aware of every sound going on in the building, so when he heard Charmee say he was going to go get some fresh air, he had more than enough time to get up onto the roof.

Metal had shed his false form to do so; it was not capable of bending in ways he needed to bend to get up silently. He watched as Charmee floated out onto the porch and yawned. Metal stopped to check his chronograph.

5:30 PM.

Metal was surprised at the time, days seemed to go on forever for him, his life not holding much meaning since ordering himself to find a new directive other that _kill Sonic The Hedgehog._

Charmee lowered to the ground, sitting on the edge of the porch, his stubby legs kicking gently through the air. Metal was standing tall on top of the building, so it wasn't hard for Charmee to feel like he was being watched. What Metal didn't have the reaction time for, was Charmee turning to look up right where he was.

At first he looked suspicious, probably expecting to see Espio, but his eyes widened into cold fear upon seeing Metal Sonic.

_Brilliant._ Metal thought to himself as the young bee dashed into the office as fast as his little wings could take him. Metal jumped off the roof and into the backyard, landing with a _clunk_. He was certain that Espio would not hear him; Charmee was ranting and raving at a marvelous rate.

As expected, Vector and Espio went with Charmee out the front door. Metal slipped inside and entered Vector's office. Since there wasn't much option for stealth anymore, he just stood in front of Vector's desk, facing the front door.

Vector, Charmee, and Espio came back inside, Vector chewing out Charmee for dragging him away from what he was doing for nothing. Vector was shutting the door and facing Charmee, so his right side faced Metal. Espio had seen him already, and stood absolutely still in his fighting stance, waiting for Vector and Charmee to stop and see Metal.

Vector finally turned to Espio, looking for input, but saw how the chameleon was standing and followed his gaze.

"Oh god no…" He trailed, his long snout hanging open.

Silence ruled the air until Charmee finally spoke.

"See? I wasn't seeing things!"

After Amy had vouched for Ashura as Sonic's brother, Valerie had been invited to hang out with her, giving Ashura time by himself. Of course, he didn't stay by himself. Something was always going on in the city, and Sonic was usually there. Ashura had found him taking a nap up in a tree.

"Hey Sonic!" He called. Sonic drowsily opened one eye down to him.

"Yo." Sonic gave him a thumbs-up. Ashura jumped up into the tree, stopping on a branch just above Sonic and squatting down.

"It's the middle of the afternoon dude! Get up and move!"

As if to punctuate what Ashura had just said, a bullet ricocheted off of the trunk of the tree, after splitting the air between the two hedgehogs.

Sonic was now fully awake.

"What did you do!" he yelled as the two of them bounded out of the tree.

"Nothing! I have no idea what that was all about!" The park they were in was flooding out with an exodus of panicking people. Sonic and Ashura ran toward where the bullet had come from, and now added to more bullets were lasers from the rifles of the G.U.N. robots, Laser Hunters.

Sonic and Ashura stopped by a tree and stared as two-dozen Laser Hunters came barreling down the street, some equipped with assault rifles instead of laser rifles. They were chasing a young human who was doing an incredible job of dodging their every shot.

The robots stopped before entering the park and spread out to a long firing line. Sonic and Ashura could see all the other streets away from the park being blocked off in very similar ways.

Sonic whistled. "Whoever that guy is, they sure don't want him getting away!" Ashura nodded.

The man jumped behind a statue and slid to a sitting position, his back against the statue.

"You just _had_ to drop me right in the middle of a G.U.N. base didn't you Nazo?" He said. Sonic and Ashura blinked at the same time, each equally taken aback.

"What did he just say?" Ashura asked. Several lasers and bullets whipped past as the robots from the other streets began to open fire at the human.

"All I needed to hear was Nazo, so now I'm curious!" Sonic replied as he and Ashura ran over to the man.

Jesse was used to this. The G.U.N. had canceled his division a few days ago, and had been trying to kill him ever since. It was safe to assume that all the other men in the division had been executed, they had all surrendered. But not him. Jesse had never been broken enough to surrender to a death sentence. He just didn't feel expendable.

What did surprise him though, was when he turned around to face the rest of the park, Sonic the Hedgehog and a green clone of him were right in his face.

"Gah!" he startled.

"What is it with Mobians and being right where I think is empty today?"

Sonic rubbed the underside of his nose while the green version looked off towards the Laser Hunters that were now being reinforced with standard infantry.

"I think a more appropriate question would be; why is a small G.U.N. army after one man?" Sonic said.

Jesse adopted an annoyed look. "Because I'm not supposed to exist, and I ain't just going to let them kill me, either." Jesse rolled around the side of the statue he was at and took a pot shot at one of the robots, taking off its head.

"That doesn't explain why there are that many of them." Ashura stated.

Jesse grimaced. "Because I have this." He reached into his body armor and retrieved the orange chaos emerald.

"And also because I know how to use it." Sonic and Ashura's eyes went wide.

"But I thought….." Sonic started. Jesse's grimace shifted into a grin.

"You thought wrong." Swinging around the statue again - this was quickly deteriorating into rubble – and launched a set of Chaos Spears at a crowded group of Hunters.

Ashura and Sonic whistled together, and then exchanged looks.

"Well later. Hope you survive." Sonic said at last, turning away.

Jesse choked on exasperation. "What! You can't just leave me here! You're supposed to be the guy who saves everybody!" Ashura walked on, but Sonic stopped.

"Yeah, but ticking' off G.U.N. ain't one of my daily practices." Jesse rolled his eyes.

"This is all Nazo's fault." Sonic frowned, as did Ashura a few steps ahead.

"Oh? You know him?" Sonic nodded slowly, and folded his arms across his chest.

"How do _you_ know him?" Ashura asked, suspicion all over his face.

By now the G.U.N. forces were backing out so that the gigantic Turtle Mechs could bombard the whole park with artillery strike.

Jesse noticed this and arose to his feet.

"If we get out of here in one piece, I'll enlighten you." He stated.

Jesse broke into a dead run across the park, making for the exit that was in the most confusion from the troop exchange. Sonic shrugged. He didn't

doubt that the Green Beret would have much difficulty breaking through, what with all the magnum rounds and Chaos Spears flying out in front of him.


	12. Chaos Vs Order Episode 12

Episode 12: Shadow Vs. Fatal! Metal Pwnage!

Shadow had managed to chase all of the workers into the living quarters area, but that was as far as that got. The slightly more intelligent had sealed that area off, and Shadow was not prone to tearing apart doors in this sacred place.

"Clever bastards." Shadow scorned. He glared at the door, or rather, at the intruders behind it.

"Don't think you're safe in there, you vermin. The second I find a decent power source I'll Chaos Control in there and destroy you all!"

There was faint laughter from the other side; they obviously did not take him seriously. Shadow grinned as he turned away to seek out the professor's old prototype Chaos-Control machine.

Meanwhile, on the Egg Moon, Fatal had fully recovered from his traumatized mental state and was in front of Eggman receiving orders.

"The G.U.N. has re-established use of the ARK, and I'm guessing it's so they can point the Eclipse Cannon at us. I need you to get in there and stop them. You understand what it would mean to fail, right Fatal?"

Fatal nodded. He knew very well. The Egg Moon would be destroyed, along with Eggman.

"Of course Eggman. And don't worry, nothing G.U.N. has could possibly compare to _me,_ the weaponized embodiment of your superior genius!"

Eggman grinned his big, toothy grin at Fatal before ruffling his quills.

"You sure do know how to flatter your old man." Fatal returned Eggman's grin with his own. Eggman cleared his throat.

"Since you can't breathe vacuum, I'll be sending you over with one of my greatest prototypes. I'm sure you won't have any problems, seeing as that you two have already worked together."

The doors opened to reveal the heavily modified Super-Eggpawn, with a mace instead of a hammer, thick armor plating, Eyebeam cannons salvaged from the wrecked Egg Breaker, wing-like jets identical to those of the Egg Emperor robot, and an intelligence not used since Metal Sonic.

"Greetings Commander. I will be serving as your transport." Titan voiced as he clomped into the room. The spikes and shaft of his mace were retracted, so at the moment it looked like a big maraca in his hand.

Eggman adjusted his glasses a little before continuing.

"Because of the dire state that we would be in if G.U.N. is allowed to get all the way to the Eclipse Cannon, you'll be departing immediately." Fatal gave him a thumbs-up, a habit he had picked up from his Sonic-based genes, and dashed out of the room, Titan pursuing him.

Shadow was walking down one of the outer corridors at the very edge of the ARK, where one could look out the windows and view space beyond.

He was doing just that, thinking about what Eggman's response to the re-activation of the Eclipse Cannon would be when his keen vision caught a flicker of light about halfway between the ARK and the Egg Moon.

_Rather small for a dropship. But it must be more complex than that. After all, it is coming from Eggman._ Shadow thought. By now the rapidly approaching object was beginning to take shape. It almost looked like a robotic moth with a severe obesity issue from this angle.

Shadow found himself instinctively moving back towards the shuttle bay, something was itching at him that although seemingly insignificant, the incoming object was packing a lot more punch than anyone could expect.

Shadow came racing around the corner into the bay just as the air lock had opened barley enough for him to get through and had to immediately avoid a Chaos Spear. Due to this, he came to a grinding halt.

"YOU!" He roared, recognizing the alternately colored version of himself from television just yesterday.

"Huh. I wasn't exactly expecting _you_ to be here." The other retorted. Shadow snarled, baring his sharp teeth in a grimace.

"What are you doing on my ARK?" He demanded. The other shrugged, posing suspiciously like Sonic…

"Probably the same as you. Exterminating G.U.N."

_True enough,_ Shadow thought. "Maybe you're not all bad then." Shadow stood in a more casual way, seemingly letting his guard down.

"You're that Fatal character I saw before. Are you some new type of android? And why am I reminded of Sonic right now?"

The other rubbed the underside of his nose, another Sonic-like maneuver, while maintaining Shadow's Iron glare. Freaky indeed.

"Oh no, I'm as real as you or anyone else." A wry smile spread across Fatal's face.

"And _I_ am now the Ultimate Life Form." Shadow took a step back, stunned. What could possibly posses this… _thing_ to think that Shadow was inferior?

His iron wall of invincibility returning, Shadow dismissed Fatal's claim with a wave of his gloved hand.

"_I_ am the Ultimate Life Form. No improvement can be made on that witch is already perfect." Fatal's orange eyes glimmered with a sinister smile right beneath them.

"But you and Sonic work _so_ well together…"

Shadow got the hint. Fatal was a clone spliced with Sonic's DNA.

"Humph. That's no improvement, having that lug-head's blood in your veins." Fatal put on a fake hurt look, again imitating the blue speedster.

"You don't have to be jealous just because I'm better looking than you."

Shadow had enough of such teasing from Sonic, the absolute **LAST** thing he needed was _**ANOTHER**_ irritating hedgehog cracking jokes at him.

"Enough. Let me show you what ultimate power is!" Shadow charged up a Chaos Spear in his hand while saying this.

"Very well, let's do this!" Fatal snickered.

The air began to be filled with hand-crafted rage fashioned into throw-able weapons as the two hedgehogs dodged about, quickly leaving the bay behind as their skirmish led them in erratic patterns.

Vector was supposed to be strong. Really strong. Really _really_ strong. But for some reason, he just wasn't able to bash Metal Sonic's face in, no matter how hard he tried.

He did manage to cut himself on Metal's spike-for-a-nose.

Espio had thrown some kind of net at him, and he had been magnetized to the wall, then Vector had begun pummeling him relentlessly ever since.

"Uh, Vector, I don't think he's even noticing you." Charmee yawned, his eyes half-lidded. Vector had been pummeling Metal Sonic's face for a good eight minutes, and Metal had still to do as much as flinch.

"Be quiet Charmee, if you distract me, he might get away!" the crocodile snorted, never taking his eyes away from Metal's.

In truth, he was scared to death of Metal Sonic. The robot's eyes alone could reduce a man to a whimpering lump. And that went without counting talons, bullets, lasers, rockets, an extremely accurate kick, and a recent transformation into an impervious robo-dragon-centaur.

Vector still got nightmares of him sometimes. He hadn't even noticed that time had been moving along without him as he desperately tried to bust Metal Sonic's face apart, even if all that did was take away those…_eyes_.

Espio had come to some conclusion earlier, and had left the room already.

"Vector, if he was going to do anything, he would have by now." Espio called from another room.

"Yeah, all you're doing is making ten minutes seem like ten weeks! Watching you is so _boring_! Charmee huffed, being all _tough guy_.

Vector had his left fist next to his eye at the moment, but his eyes were on the clock. It _had_ been nine minutes now, and the robot had yet to act like he was even on.

"Uhhh…"

Vector backed away from Metal, taking the electronic web with him.

"Hello? Anyone home?" he asked sarcastically, knocking on metal's forehead like it was a door.

"Yes? Who is it?" Metal replied, his voice still the slashing one it had always been, but heavy with sarcasm that outweighed Vector's.

"Just what are you tryin' to pull, gear-brains?" Vector accused, one hand on his corresponding hip while the other pointed its index finger at Metal.

Vector, in all his years having fought robots, had never encountered one with eyelids, so when he heard what sounded like a camera lens closing then opening, he hadn't even realized that Metal had blinked.

"What was that! Did you just take a picture of me or something!" Vector grabbed the robot by the shoulders and thrust him into the wall, off the ground so that his eyes were level with Vector's.

"I don't suppose you'd mind putting me down so I can tell you what's up?"

Vector blinked, surprised. Metal Sonic talking lingo like Fleshly Sonic? _There's something screwy going on here… (no pun intended.)_

Vector let go of Metal, who hit the ground with a thud.

"Start talking, robot." Espio's voice came cold, but at least the chameleon wasn't trying to punch his lights out. (No pun intended.)

"To put it short, I'm trying to re-wire my '_gear brain.'_" Metal's eyes swiveled back to Vector. "Very well. Not that you're going to believe a word of it though…" The three sets of glaring eyes would have withered any other person, except maybe Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, and possibly, though not likely, Tails. It held no affect on him, however; after all, he had just spent ten minutes being beaten to hell and back and there wasn't even a smudge on his paint.

"A week ago I had what you organics would call a dream, but I have come to believe that it was a sub-conscious message sent through telepathic means by two beings – "Metal was cut short when the door burst open and a squad of G.U.N. soldiers rolled and or ran in, taking up a position and all pointing guns at three shocked Mobians and one annoyed looking robot.

As if it hadn't been engraved to do so when police pointed guns at you, one of them screamed;

"_FREEZE!_"

Shadow held Fatal's throat in his grip, holding him to the floor. Over the last fifteen minutes, Fatal had made several mistakes:

A: He kept closing his eyes while talking.

B: He acted too much like Sonic for his own good.

C: He said some unrepeatable things about Maria, since Shadow didn't technically have a 'momma'.

Fatal hadn't even noticed that Shadow had slowly been gaining ground on him until _after_ he had been hit in the face with a Chaos Spear, and now his windpipe was being crushed into the other side of the floor.

"Go! To! HELL!" Each word was emphasized by Shadow slamming the back of Fatal's head into the floor.

"Make…me." Fatal was able to choke out. His fur began to shimmer with an all-too familiar red glow.

Fatal's eyes opened to reveal that they too were glowing red.

"Chaos–"

"BLAST!" Shadow finished.

Fatal's eyes lost their glow and blinked in horror. Could Shadow do that?

He got his answer when the glow around his body condensed until he was but a glowing silhouette of himself.

A scream of pain came from behind the wriggling form.

Shadow stood up, a sadistic smile on his face. Eventually, the glow faded, and an unconscious (and slightly smoky) Fatal lay before him.

"Enjoy your nap while I take care of those vermin, you fake." Shadow's jeer came as he walked proudly away.

"_FREEZE!_"

_As if._ Metal thought to himself. Pushing Vector aside he made a sweeping motion with his hand. A wave of electricity just powerful enough to knock a person out emanated from him, taking the hostile soldiers into slumber.

"Wow. You Pwn, Metal." Charmee stared at the fallen men in their doorway.

"Yes. But I think I may have just gotten you three in serious trouble."

Espio scowled. "Just what we need. Being accused of working with Metal Sonic."

Metal shot him a withering glance.

"That's not the least of your problems. These four – "Metal prodded one with his foot. " – weren't alone. G.U.N. is surrounding us." Vector gaped.

"WHAT!" Espio parted the curtains just enough to see behind and saw, with a sinking heart, that Metal Sonic was right.

"It would be better for you if I went from this place alone and you three find somewhere to hide." Metal reached for the door.

"Good luck!" Charmee called. Vector quickly stuffed the bee into his hands, but the affect was already there.

Metal's hand clamped open and closed in front of him.

"…Good luck to you, Chaotix." He finally managed. The next instant he was gone.

Now outside, Metal could see the enormity of the forces compiled against him. The G.U.N. was perfectly willing to level the place in an effort to kill him. Over 100 infantrymen, 80 laser hunters, 25 Big Foot walkers, a special variety with missiles _**and**_ chaingun, 12 Hot Shot Walkers, and 6 Turtle artillery walkers.

All crosshairs pointing at him.

"_FREEZE!_"

*Robotic groan*

Metal's arms flowered open and a small armada of mini-missiles came blasting out, catching all the Hot Shots in the knees, disabling them. The rest of the opposing force (excluding the Turtles) opened fire as Metal's feet jets propelled him into the air.

Dodging bullets like a Chinese acrobat while pumping the air full of Chaos-based lightning, Metal neutralized a good number more of the Laser Hunters.

Metal's systems warned him of a lock-on from a hostile rocket and stopped his acrobatic movement.

The high-powered laser underneath Metal's wrist made quick work of the missile, but not before he was racked with bullets.

Dodging around to the right, metal let loose a string of bullets, rockets, and Chaos-lightning; the rest of the Laser Hunters went down. The Turtles had already retreated, towing away the disabled Hot Shots. The Big Foots were providing covering fire for the vulnerable infantrymen who were

retreating madly.

The Big Foots left the scene last, leaving a shot-up – but victorious – Metal Sonic floating twenty feet above the ground.

_I pwn indeed._

The multiple 'wounds' in his body finally took their toll. His CPU lost power, as did his jets, sending him crashing to the ground.


	13. Chaos Vs Order Episode 13

Episode 13: Warning! Iron Man Rip-off!

Jesse lay propped up in Tails' workshop, clutching his ribcage while grimacing.

His body armor was bulletproof, but the laser rifles the laser hunters melted right through the plating. So now Sonic had brought him here, introduced him to the mild-mannered fox kit, and gone into the back room with the amber pup to make a salve.

Even in his slightly bleary state, Jesse was acutely aware of his surroundings. Obviously, G.U.N. would come back for him, over and over again. The workshop was not where he'd like to be when they came back though; the place wasn't made for a battle scene.

Tails and Sonic walked back into the room, discussing the balm the kit had in hand.

"It's an pulverized form of iodine moisturized with hydrogen peroxide." Tails was saying, absolutely proud of being able to use so many big words in one sentence.

"Uh, ok Tails, whatever you say. Cleaning stuff." The blue hero was rubbing the back of his head whilst retaining a sheepish smile.

Jesse grunted a few times as Tails prodded his wound with the wet cloth, soaked in the medical compound. After cleaning his flesh, the real damage could be seen. "Why is it that medical care is almost as bad as the medical condition?" the burly man mumbled at some point.

His abdomen was blasted wide open, all the way through to the bones. One of his ribs was partially disintegrated, and the tissue around it had cauterized, keeping the bone exposed.

"That's uh, pretty bad…" Tails trailed off as he stared wide-eyed at the man's ruined side.

Jesse reached out and patted Tails on the head. "No-one's invincible. I'll live." Tails wide eyes rose to meet his gaze.

"Are you sure?" Jesse started to laugh, but the effort was quenched with a murderous zeal from the pain in his side.

"Sure about what? That I'll live or that no-one's invincible?" Jesse wheezed.

"Tail's eyes brightened, which pleased Sonic. "Hey don't worry about it kiddo, just think; Eggman's been through a lot worse than that-" Sonic pointed at Jesse's exposed rib, "-and he's fine. And what's more, Eggman is way out of shape, too."

Jesse yawned, much to the displeasure of his abs, which made him well aware of that, and looked himself over.

"Just bring that Chaos Emerald back here and I'll be fine. I don't think I can completely repair myself, but I can speed it up a lot." Sonic nodded, and went into another room. Tails sat in a chair across from Jesse, fidgeting with some small mechanical device.

"You like to build things, huh?" Jesse asked, watching intently as Tails toyed with the device like it was some new kind of Rubik's cube. Tails paused a moment.

"Yep. Its what I do best!" he replied cheerily.

"You remember when you all first showed up? Those paper-airplane things you used to disable area 99's electrical stuff?" Tails raised an eyebrow, but his eyes soon lit up with proud memories.

"Yeah I remember those! They weren't paper though. Well, they were originally; I galvanized the paper with aluminum, then added the electro-magnetic amplifiers after that. Why do you mention those, though?" the kit tilted his head to one side.

Jesse made a short huff, kind of a one-burst laughter. "G.U.N. still has a handful of those, you know. All of the tech that you and Eggman pump out is highly coveted by any and every person who knows what a CPU is." Tails blushed ever so slightly.

"It's nothing, really."

Jesse shifted his position in the gurney, much to his rib's dismay.

Sonic came walking in again, orange emerald in hand, and a tune whistling away from his mouth.

"Here you go, pal." Sonic said as he laid the emerald in Jesse's hand.

Jesse held the emerald over his wound, bottommost point down, and a thin orange beam shot down into the man's side.

The beam gave Sonic a slight dejavu, what with the beam looking exactly like the one that had come out of it way back when Jet the Hawk used the emeralds to unlock Babylon Garden.

Jesse's flesh regenerated under the flow of chaos energy, and he stopped only after the exposed rib had been restored and healthily protected by muscle tissue.

"Now just get me a wrap to put around here and I'll be good as new." Jesse declared as he returned the Emerald to Sonic. Sure, he had kept it for a while now, but it was not rightfully his, so he saw no reason to insist on keeping it.

"Hey Sonic," Jesse started, "Who was that green copy of you earlier? I wanted to ask him, but seeing as he ran off…" He shrugged.

Sonic sighed. "Why is it that whenever I think I've finally told everybody, someone else comes along who doesn't know." Jesse blinked, not knowing how to respond.

"Uh… I only just saw him earlier." Sonic shook his head.

"Yeah yeah, I know, it just gets old. He's my twin brother, Ashura. I had thought him dead for so long now, I had forgotten about him. But you saw him, alive and well." Sonic stared out a window as he spoke.

There was a long silence that was finally broken by a sudden idea from Jesse.

"Hey Tails, you up for a challenge?" he asked, beginning to stand.

"What kind of challenge?" he asked. Jesse shuffled over to the cabinet and

retrieved a towel, witch he wrapped tightly around his abdomen.

"Since I'm obviously not laser-proof, nor am I fast enough to dodge incoming attacks as fast as a Mobian, I was thinking of building an advantage for me."

Tails put his trinket down on the counter next to the emerald. "What do you mean?" the amber kit inquired.

Jesse adopted a sly grin. "You've played or at least seen Halo, right?" Sonic gagged on the drink he had gone and gotten while no one was looking.

"_At least seen?_ He's beaten all three games in legendary mode with nothing but the plasma pistol!" Jesse stared at the hedgehog a moment.

"Okay… Anyway, think about the shield Master Sergeant - " "Master Chief" Sonic interrupted.

"Whatever, Master Chief. Think shield. Now think Iron Man." Sonic groaned, but Tails' eyes lit up.

"Oh! You're thinking to use the Chaos Emerald as the power source like the arc reactor Iron Man has, right?" Jesse nodded.

Tails beamed. "I finally get to use a chaos emerald in something that isn't an engine! **YAY**!"

Jesse scratched the stubble beginning to grow on his chin. "Actually, I intend to have a part in it too, being as that if it works I'll be the one who'll have to depend on it." Tails blinked a few times.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but to pull something like this off, you've got to be a little beyond special." Jesse let out his one-huff laugh again.

"I was talking about those little E.M.P. planes because I was one of the men assigned to study them. I know what I'm talking about in the fields involved here. Besides, how do you think men get to be qualified for 'does not exist' projects, anyway? I ain't all muscle." Tails had to admit that Jesse's argument made sense, so he let it drop. Jesse found himself a six-foot rod that he used like a crutch, following the excitedly jabbering Tails.

Sonic shuddered, seeing Jesse walking around with his insides as unstable as they must be hurt just _thinking_ about it.

Nazo had never been so frustrated before in his life. He had failed to even sense that the world with the violet Master Emerald had come under attack, the guardian was defeated, and the Emerald had been chained to the mind of one who called himself a god.

He had come into this dimension under the impression that it was the _green_ Master Emerald that needed special concern, not the _purple_ one. The power of Chaos had never failed him before, but it had now.

He was deep within Angel Island, standing in the ancient ruins of the Hidden Palace, the site of the original Master Emerald Shrine.

No, it was the green Master Emerald that needed him here. There was something about the blue hedgehog and his companions that told him that he had not failed, nor had he been tricked.

Nazo was deep within his own mind that he did not realize someone was with him.

Tikal appeared opposite him, sitting on one of the jade flowers that had held the Chaos Emeralds so long ago.

"Ahem." She said.

Nazo snapped his head up, his hands already filled with energy, ready to fight.

"My aren't we jittery." The mahogany Echidna said, her voice echoing through the cavern.

"I did not expect to see you walking about, Mistress Tikal." Nazo said, bowing.

"Please excuse my reaction, I am somewhat tense." Tikal dropped down from her perch, landing softly on her toes.

Tikal had been a guardian of the Master Emerald two thousand years ago, but sacrificed her corporeal form in order to trap the Chaos demon inside the emerald.

When that happened, She had become a citizen of Nazo's realm. Chaos, the demon, had also become a part of his world, and was not the destructive monster he had once been, but now served as the guardian of the blue master emerald.

Tikal walked over to him and looked into his eyes.

"You are troubled by a great evil, my lord." She referred to him as _my lord_ because as a guardian, she was a servant of Chaos, and he was the force in charge of the distribution of Chaos Energy all over the universe.

"I am. I have recently come from the violet Master Emerald, and I bring dire news. It has fallen under the will of one called Mephiles the Dark. It resists my, and I can no longer call back its power." Tikal closed her eyes and looked to the floor.

"That is dire. But be comforted, you know as well as I that the forces of good always prevail over evil."

Nazo smiled. If he was capable of loving an individual specifically, instead

of loving it just because it was alive, his heart would belong to Tikal. She was wiser than any other he knew, and she never gave up hope, nor did she ever hesitate to forgive.

"You always were my favorite, if for nothing but your wisdom." He said.

Tikal smiled at this, but that faded quickly.

"I must return home now, my lord. Be at peace in your heart." She waved slowly as she disappeared, returning to the Chaos realm until she gathered her strength again.

Nazo's head went right back to business after she left, though. His ancient mind quickly came up with another advantage over the powers of evil that he was pitted against.

Drawing his will together, Nazo brought forth the elements, and strained for a short while as he encased the raw power of his home into seven new gems, each three times more potent than a Chaos emerald.

Metal Sonic could not look surprised, so that was a good thing when he suddenly turned on in the middle of a group of G.U.N. scientists trying to scavenge technology off him. Sure he was surprised, by they were terrified. Of the seven of them, three fainted, two became paralyzed with fear, and the remaining two ran for the door, shouting for help at the top of their lungs.

Metal sat up on the table he was on and inspected himself. While he was out, his nano-systems had repaired him, leaving not so much as a scratch in the shiny chrome finish of his armor. That would also mean that weapon systems would be perfectly functional, and right now there were two annoying technicians who were begging for a tazer in the backside.

Spinning off the table like a ninja and landing on his feet with a thundering thud, Metal's arms flowered open and four wires shot out, each pair attaching to the back of the retreating techs, flooring them with electrical torture. Walking past them, Metal considered taking one of their pass cards and opening the door silently, but he decided that blasting the door apart would be more fun.

Metal outstretched his hand, curving his talons inward slightly. A ball of green chaos energy flicked into existence before his palm. The orb began to glow intensely as Metal powered up a chaos blast – his kind, the beam kind – when something clicked in his head.

_What are you doing, you stupid robot! That was the old you, you don't need to run around trying to fulfill your programming, you have the power to be whatever you want to be!_ Metal's inward conflict was resolved in a matter of seconds, ending when he decided that what he wanted to be right now was the one to blow that door into oblivion.

The orb stretched away from his extended hand, becoming a thick beam of raw energy, obliterating the door and three corridors beyond.

Noting that he probably just trashed entire squads of G.U.N. forces, Metal smiled. (mentally, of course, he had no mouth.)

It felt good to just let loose and annihilate now and then.

Between Jesse's bran and Tails' more advanced technological capabilities, Jesse's proposed suit of armor was complete by sunset the day after it's proposal. Jesse had stayed the night at Tails' workshop, mainly because he was in no condition to be running around town trying to find a place to stay. Sonic had suggested the Thorndike's mansion, but Jesse had refused. He had his own reasons, but he had said that he knew that there were kids there, and G.U.N. wanted him dead, no care as to whom else was hurt in the way. Sonic had told him that was noble enough, but that he should at least stay with Tails.

This morning, the beginning of the second day after the suit's commission, Jesse was installing the shield, so it hadn't really in truth been finished, but even without the shield, nothing short of Sonic, Shadow or otherwise in super-form were going to dent it, so Tails had almost decided that they didn't need the shield, but Jesse had convinced him by saying that Tails wasn't going to be the one flying around in it.

The suit looked very much like the Iron Man suit, but there were several major differences.

The suit had 2 four-foot long 'wings' on it's back, each of the 'feathers' were actually a propulsion engine, so he could hover.

The suit's feet had mechanical talons on it, two in front, one in back, designed so Jesse could hang upside-down or cling to the wall.

The helmet piece looked like a dragon's open mouth, frozen mid-roar.

(to get a better idea of how this looks, go to google images and look up Galanoth. The tall, armored man with the big sword. The helmet is modeled after his, though more refined.)

The central power unit was the orange chaos emerald, its soft glow far contrasting the vibrant blue glow of Iron Man's power unit.

The weapon systems on it were formidable enough to have impressed Shadow.

Also, the suit was painted a shade of green that, from a distance, would be easily mistaken for black.

The talons were an equally dark blue, yet the rims of the wings were truly black. The 'feathers' however, were a bright yellow, highly vivid against the other colors.

"Well don't we look intimidating?" Jesse said, staring at the visor of the suit.

Tails walked in with a laptop and a headset, they planned to do their diagnostics and test run today.

"This is so awesome! We actually made a working mecha suit! This so outclasses any G.U.N. walker!"

The little fox was exited beyond jitters, he couldn't wait to get started. Jesse stood next to the armor and gave Tails a thumbs-up.

"Ready when you are." Tails sat at a table and setup his laptop/headset/radio tower/AM-FM radio. Jesse had teased that last part,

saying that the only other thing it lacked was a satellite orbiting the planet.

"Operation Steel Icarus initiated!" Tails had originally wanted to call it _Iron Chief_ But Jesse wouldn't have it. Tails had come up with more names that swayed either Halo or Iron Man, but had finally gotten Jesse to agree on calling it the _Steel Icarus_.

The suit opened in all its articulated areas, allowing Jesse to stand in place. Tails typed a command on his keyboard and the armor closed around Jesse.

"Powering up…100% capacity!" Tails was grinning ear to ear. The armor's systems flared on, allowing Jesse to see more than just regular helmeted vision. The interior of the armor had a heat regulation system in it, kept at precisely 88.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Thermo vision checks out." Jesse announced as he ran through the systems, calling out the status of each through Tails' headset.

"Ready for launch sequence?" Tails asked excitedly. Jesse nodded, the servos in the suit whirring and hissing as the head moved.

"Alright, I've switched control of the suit's movements to you, so take off whenever you want." Tails was so exited about this. Even if Jesse crashed, the shield would prevent damage to the armor, which was really hard to damage in the first place. Although, whatever he crashed into might not fare as well…

Jesse's voice came over the headset, setting Tails' attention back to the now.

"T-minus 5" The rockets in the boots were already going, but those alone were not strong enough to lift.

"T-minus 4" the wing jets began to light, slowly rising to full power, which would send Jesse out the open roof with a mechanical grace.

"T-Minus 3, 2, 1, liftoff!" The wing jets and the boot rockets were at full capacity, but the noise was surprisingly low, Tails wasn't even having the compulsion to cover his ears.

_Steel Icarus_ lifted off the ground at about the same pace as a nice jog, and rose above the ceiling.

"It's a good thing I'm well-versed in driving hover-walkers Tails," Jesse said, his voice crisp in the headset, "Otherwise I might have tipped backward just there."

Tails grinned again before responding. "Well that's a good sign. Out to the west about 1 kilometer is a set of four targets. Each of the sets has the corresponding number of weapons systems of that classification. I've organized the weapons in your HUD, by class."

Jesse's eyes went to the upper right corner of his screen, where four kinds of weapons were displayed.

Energy: Eyebeams, in the eyes, obviously. And laser rifles, one on each wrist.

Ballistic: Clustermissiles, housed in his wrists, and a guided mortar on his back.

Standard/Bullets: Turrets, on his shoulders and wings, and a chain-gun that his left hand opened up to.

Chaos: Chaos blast (beam type): Emerald core, Chaos Ray, (a chaos-based e.m.p. attack) right hand fingers, Chaos Spear, Right hand palm.

"Sweet. Carnage just waiting to start." Jesse said as he overviewed the weapons.

"Yep, I gave it my best! Anyway, take out the targets, one with each weapon, se we can make sure the weapon systems are working well." Jesse swiveled the jets in the wings so they turned him west, then leaned forward and boosted off that way when they straightened.

Just like Tails said, there were a bunch of white blocks of matter, ranging from foam to concrete, all with big targets painted on them.

Jesse decided to start with the Chaos attacks, specifically the chaos blast, which, because it came from the chest, he would harass Tails about that later.

Within minutes Jesse had obliterated all but one of the targets, a large computer station that he had neutralized with the Chaos Ray.

"Tails, I got to say, If Eggman is watching, he's either peeing himself, wishing he was as cool as you, trying to come up with better, or all of the above."

Tails' giggling came over the headset along with the distant voice of Sonic.

"Alright, Sonic's here, and I think the diagnostics and test run went well, come-on back."

Jesse was almost reluctant to get out of this awesome thing, but he knew better, so he flew back to Tails' workshop to turn in for breakfast.


	14. Chaos Vs Order Episode 14

Episode 14: The Super-Emeralds

Of the very few people Knuckles would tolerate on Angel Island, Volt was probably a little less welcome than the others. He had a natural tendency to feel the need to touch anything he did not understand, which was most of the ancient structures that had belonged to the Echidna people.

Currently, Volt had found an old book, a logbook if he was right, and was carefully studying the hieroglyphs while munching on an apple.

Obviously he could not read the language, he could barley read English. Still, the pictures were fun to look at, and he turned each page with as gentle a touch as he could.

Such was the scene when Knuckles walked up behind him, standing seven or so feet above, as Volt was taking Shade in the rock Knuckles was perched on.

A smile tugged at the edges of Knuckles mouth, the little porcupine reminded him of himself at that age, obsessively curious as to anything that had to do with his people.

After a long while of watching, Knuckles was about to speak when someone put their hand on his shoulder.

"No, let him be." Nazo stood behind Knuckles. Knuckles turned to face him, and almost gasped in surprise.

The flames that were constantly emanating from Nazo as a testament to his power had subsided, revealing that his fur was gray. His eyes were reddened, as if he had not slept for a week. Nazo needed no sleep of course, but it looked like when a normal person was awake in excess of 80 hours.

Dark circles were drawn under his eyes, further adding to his depleted appearance.

What was most stunning though, was that orbiting Nazo were what looked to be seven new Chaos emeralds, but half again the size of the Chaos emeralds, and the light shining from them was far more intense.

Nazo directed Knuckles away from the oblivious Volt, and back to the Shrine.

"What are those things!" Knuckles asked, his eyes wide with both awe and alarm.

Nazo reached out and touched the white one as it floated by his face.

"I will refer to them as Super Emeralds." Memory flooded into Knuckles head. He had encountered 'super emeralds' before, but so long ago now.

It had been when he first had met Eggman, Sonic, Tails, or any of them.

Back when the Death Egg had crashed on Angel Island.

"Super Emeralds? They certainly don't look like the Super Emeralds I know of."

Nazo stared through Knuckles, searching for the words to explain.

"The super emeralds you know of were a special action the Emeralds take to protect themselves and their world. Sonic and Shadow use the power of the Chaos Emeralds to attain a super-form; the emeralds called out to the Master Emerald and attained a super-form themselves."

Knuckles took a minute to process that. The emeralds using their own power at their own consent? Knuckles had never considered that the Chaos Emeralds were more than just extremities of the Master Emerald.

"But what's wrong with you? You look half-dead." Nazo smiled at him, but his smile brought no feeling of comfort with it as it normally did.

Nazo seemed to be, indeed, mortal.

"I used my own power to create these new Emeralds. I will recover, but it will take awhile."

Knuckles reached out and took the gold emerald and looked into it, but saw nothing.

"How could you make more emeralds without another Master Emerald?"

Nazo closed his eyes and sighed.

"That's just it. They have no Master. They contain a set amount of energy. When it is gone, they will simply be large jewels."

Knuckles let go of the emerald and it took its place amongst its brothers. "What will you do with them?" Knuckles asked. Nazo sat on the ground, cross-legged, and the emeralds fanned out in front of him.

"I will give one to each of the seven whom I deem worthy to carry this power. I have already decided on Sonic and his brother, Shadow, Miles Prowler, and the human, Jesse O'Crean. I believe the latter will prove to be far more than he is."

Knuckles hadn't a clue who the last mentioned was, but he didn't really care, either. It was his business to ensure the safety of the Master Emerald, not worry about who got shiny gifts from Nazo.

Volt came plodding along just then, still looking at the old book.

"Hey Mr. Knuckles, look what I found. Do you know what it is?" Volt finally looked up to see Knuckles, a depleted Nazo, and seven big, shiny things.

His eyes went directly to the blue gem, and he lost all concept of the existence of all else.

Knuckles looked at Volt with concern as the book slid out of his small hand, but Volt didn't seem to notice. Knuckles waved his hand in front of Volt's eyes, but Volt just kept staring at the blue Super Emerald.

Nazo did not look concerned, but rather confused. Knuckles became frustrated as nothing he tried seemed to shake Volt's gaze. Nazo snapped his fingers and the Super Emeralds became invisible, or disappeared.

Volt twitched, blinked, and looked around.

"What just happened?" he whispered, tears brimming his eyes.

"What was all that I just saw? Was I dreaming?" Volt was fully into crying mode now, tears rolling freely down his cheeks, sniffling, and the occasional hiccup.

"What did you see?" Nazo asked, his unnaturally calmative voice back in place.

Already Nazo's fire was regenerating, his fur was lightened to the shade of timber wolf, and small tongues of white flame carousing along his form.

Volt sat down and hugged himself.

"I think I saw you." He said, looking at Nazo.

"Everything you see. I saw that…that dark guy, with the palace…it was so scary…what happened, Nazo?" Knuckles looked from Volt to Nazo with a face that matched the question: _What happened?_

Nazo sighed and lowered his head.

"I had taken notice that the violet Master Emerald had vanished from my senses, and I strode through my realm and back into this one, but at the lost Emerald. The entire planet was coated in a thick darkness, I couldn't even see stars in the night sky. There was another there, he called himself Mephiles, and I told him I was taking the emerald back. We fought, and he won. He had a tremendous amount of power in his own right, but the added power of a Master Emerald and all its Chaos Emeralds…" Nazo shook his head.

"I tried to free them, but Mephiles threw me back through my own portal."

Knuckles had taken volt to sit on the stairs of the shrine, still only a few feet from Nazo, but a more comfortable place to sit.

Knuckles always knew what kind of power the Master Emerald wielded, and now some alien being had control of one.

The name _Mephiles_ kept ringing in his ears, though he didn't know why.

He knew for absolutes that he had never heard the name before Nazo had spoken of him when he first brought Metal Sonic to Angel Island, but for some reason he knew he _had_ heard that name before. If he could only remember where…

Fatal awoke with a start. The last thing he remembered was being fried by a backfiring chaos-blast. He was on the ARK, and Shadow was here, too.

Fatal sprang to his feet, expecting the black hedgehog to jump out of nowhere at him.

Fatal could hear the faint sounds of fighting coming from way down another corridor and decided that was where Shadow would be.

He was supposed to eliminate the G.U.N. forces on the ARK, so that they did not get their hands on the Eclipse Cannon. Keeping the possibility of Shadow doing his work for him, Fatal slowly walked down the hall that the noises were coming from.

Fatal entered a room that was dimly lit, and might have been so for only a matter of minutes. There were several corpses here, some simple workers, and some full-on soldiers. Shadow was as merciless as the memories of Shadow in Fatal's head pictured him as.

Fatal continued on, following the carnage on a sure trail of Shadow.

Fatal finally came to a large storage room where the sounds of fighting were taking place. There were no G.U.N. soldiers or engineers to be seen, but Shadow was fighting what looked like a ghost.

The shade's insubstantial form vaguely resembled Shadow, but there was a stark contrast that Fatal could only think to word as malevolence.

The shade kept laughing periodically, aggravating the Ultimate Life Form.

Small black creatures would appear around the shade and harass Shadow. They looked like birds, phoenixes actually, but were alight with dark flames.

Something triggered in the Sonic side of Fatal, telling him to jump in and fight the shade also, no matter how unwelcome he was to Shadow. The Shadow half of him recognized the shade, but was perplexed as to just what or who it was.

Eventually the Sonic half won out, and Fatal leaped away from the doorway and curled into a spin-dash.

The ghost turned away from Shadow at the last moment, and Fatal plowed right through it, tearing it asunder.

The navy hedgehog landed a short distance from his black counterpart.

"Well, that didn't seem too hard." He jeered at Shadow. The black hedgehog glared at him unflinchingly.

"Come back for another beating? Your skull must be thicker than I thought."

Just as Fatal was about to jump at Shadow, purple smoke arose from the ethers in between them, taking the shape of the ghost Shadow had been fighting.

One key difference was that now the thing had seeable eyes.

"My my, if it isn't our little navy look-alike. How interesting to see you here, my weak-minded friend." Fatal began to sweat. _That voice…_ he thought to himself.

"Who are you?_" he whimpered. The answer came in form of a laugh. A howling, sinister noise that made Fatal tremble and curl into a ball._

I am Mephiles! Mephiles the Dark!_ The other continued his terrible mirth. Fatal was bombarded with a freezing wind that seemed to only affect him. Chilled to the core, Fatal cried out for mercy._

"I'm only a child!_" he squealed._

Fatal shuddered. Shadow, on the other side of the spectral being, began to snarl as he crouched down.

"I feel as if I know who you are, but I can't seem to place it." The shade's body, the basic shape of a hedgehog, was glazed over as a form wrapped itself around the shade, giving it a body.

The hedgehog still looked vaguely like Shadow, but the highlights in his fur was a dull periwinkle, his fur was seemingly all one piece, as if it was not fur at all, and the eyes were based in red-orange where a normal eye had white, the irises were a goldenrod yellow, the pupils seemingly non-existent.

Something that was strikingly peculiar though, was that this being had no visible mouth.

The being between the two hedgehogs struck them with a sense of awe and fear, itself radiating power and malice.

Golden lightning began to dance in between Shadow's fingers as he crouched.

"Just what are you?" he hissed.

The unidentified hedgehog turned completely away from the shaken Fatal to face the unwavering Shadow.

"I am a god. Serve me if you wish your future well." Fatal stood back up, relieved by the absence of the supposed god's attention.

Shadow's hand was brightly aglow with Chaos, his now closed fist held behind him, poised to strike.

"I have fought many who claim to be a god, and have yet to find one who can back it up." Fatal began collecting Chaos into his hand too, Orange lightning coming to life between his fingers.

"But have you fought a being that can change whatever about reality he wishes? Have you battled one who is outside the confines of time? Have you tried to stand against one who can see into your very soul and see your every flaw, every weakness within?"

By now Fatal's charge had caught up with Shadow's, lighting the room with Chaos Power.

Shadow's lips parted into a grin.

"If you really were a god, you would have known how to convince me of it." Shadow thrust his hand forward, as did Fatal, and two oversized, overcharged Chaos Spears were slung at the dark 'god'.

Both spears passed through the space the hedgehog had just occupied, each other, and finally landed in the opposing hedgehog's stomach.

Though the body of the being was gone, the Ultimate life forms could still hear him as he left;

"Know the name of you god, Shadow: Mephiles The Dark!"


	15. Chaos Vs Order Episode 15

Episode 15: Another Benedict Arnold

Metal Sonic stood still in the now ruined G.U.N. base that he had woken up in. All around him was destruction. Walls barley stood, anything combustible was charred into dust, and he had killed all personnel.

Presently he was staring at the ground, not sure whether he should feel elated or horrified. Finally one side won out and he lifted his gaze to the sky.

"My power is renewed. Cherish what time with your loved ones you have left, Sonic; Your days are numbered!"

The jets on Metal's legs burst into life and he rocketed through the shattered ceiling to the open air. Continuing to rise, Metal ascended into the atmosphere, but he did not stop there. Metal reached open space and shifted his flight pattern to take him toward the ARK.

Fatal laid on his back, breathing heavily. He just got his with an overcharged chaos spear, after loosing one himself. In other words, ouch.

"Your overgrown Eggpawn is here to pick you up." Shadow prodded him with his foot.

"I'll give you this one chance to get off the ARK. Take it, you go. Leave it, and I shove you out the airlock."

Fatal wasn't quite sure how Shadow was up and moving when Shadow was supposed to be inferior to him. Looking up at Shadow, Fatal saw that Shadow was hardly in any condition to support his threat.

The fluffy bunch of fur under his chin was burnt away so that only a few tufts could be seen. Dried blood was caked all over his chest; the spear had been more effective than Fatal thought it would be.

Fatal could only imagine what his own chest looked like, but rose to his feet nonetheless.

"Alright Shadow, you win for now." Fatal said as he began to limp back in the direction he had come from.

Titan was unit 03 of Eggman's Alpha A.I. experiment. Before him was Metal Sonic, Emerel earlier still. Eggman had programmed both of his predecessors to be loyal to him, and they both now stood against him. Titan had no such programming, he stayed with Eggman by simple choice. He had been the secret head of Eggman's robotic armies until Fatal had been created, but Titan held no ilk against him for it.

Titan was musing on his reality while waiting for Fatal to rendezvous at the dust-off zone when his radar showed a ping behind him and closing fast.

Radar suggested that the incoming bogie was sleek and likely far more maneuverable than him, so it ruled out everything but a small laser hunter, which Titan thought would be odd to find up here alone.

Turning around, he could see approximately 2 ½ kilometers away was a small metal object propelled by multiple engines.

Titan's mechanical telescoped in on the object, and Titan was particularly startled to find Metal Sonic.

_Speak of the devil._ Titan thought. Metal had definitely seen him already, so hiding would be foolish and unbecoming. Instead, Titan activated his mace and waited.

Metal soared through space, rapidly approaching the bulky machine in front of the ARK. The robot had turned to face him, so he had been seen already. Not that that mattered to Metal, he was superior to any other machine in existence.

Coming in to a close 60 meters, Metal stopped dead, hanging in open space before the massive robot.

"Metal Sonic." It said, despise heavy in its voice. "You are the last thing I would expect to see up here."

Metal Sonic paid no attention to what the robot was saying, instead analyzing it for any strength he could adapt, any weaknesses he could exploit.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am A.I. Alpha Unit 03; Titan." That caught Metal's attention.

"So the good doctor has continued his little project? I don't suppose he expects you to be any less treacherous than I?" Titan spun the mace around in his hands.

"I do not much care what Eggman thinks of me, I just do as I am told. I am a good soldier, unlike _others_ we know." Of course Titan was referring to Metal and Emerel.

"So why are you here, prototype?" the term _prototype_ was commonly used amongst Eggman's robots as a kind of racial slur, insulting them that they were useless versions that deserved to be melted and used elsewhere.

Metal folded his arms across his chest. "I am going to copy the data from the Eclipse Cannon and do what I please with it." Titan scrunched into a combat pose.

"No you're not. You're going to die, right here, right now." The mass of hatred that was thrown at Metal Sonic was shocking. _Did Eggman give him figure 09 as well?_ Metal asked himself. Before he could debate it though, he had to dodge an incoming mace head with about 35 tons of force behind it.

And that was just a casual swing from Titan. _Great._ Metal thought, his brain cutting up the situation and searching for a way to defeat his foe. _Eggman finally made something that can dish out more damage than me._

Titan kept swinging his mace, so Metal was able to find a weakness. After every swing, Titan had to halt the massive force he had used to swing, then redirect it so swing again, leaving a four-second gap of vulnerability.

Just after Titan's mace swung past him, Metal blasted forward, looking to grab Titan's head and tear it off.

Just as Metal's hands were about to seize Titan's head, the deeply inset optics lit up and shot Titan's hidden weapon, the Egg Breaker's eyebeams.

Metal was propelled backward, jolting his body inside his armor, which had two red-hot spots on it.

Titan held his mace out to one side with one arm, leaving the other in a guard position.

Upon his face was a malicious grin,(Titan had a mouth) which alone filled Metal with rage.

"Playing dirty?" Metal said, a ball of chaos energy blipping to life in his palm.

"Then catch!" Metal hurled the ball at Titan, who's guard arm projected multiple sheets of armor, making a shield.

The ball hit Titan's shield and exploded, sending him flying into the side of the ARK.

Titan was next to a window, and looking in he saw an annoyed Fatal who mouthed;

"We don't have time for this!" Titan noticed that Fatal's chest was severely burned, and it was all he could do to stand there.

Swiveling his head back to Metal Sonic, who was slowly floating toward him, and raised his hand.

The hand was sucked inside the arm and a cannon shot out, aimed right at Metal, who had less than half a second to think before a 44 millimeter ballistic shell hit him right between the eyes.

Not taking time to see how good his shot was, Titan jetted forward, spun around, as Fatal opened the bay doors. Titan flew in with his chest compartment already open.

Fatal ran with his inherited super-speed and jumped into the open hull of his comrade. Titan backed out as the bay doors shut, spun around again, feeling a twinge of guilt as he felt Fatal jumble around in his chest, and blasted off at mach4 to the Egg moon, leaving a dazed Metal Sonic in his cosmic dust.

Jesse had waited patiently in Tails' living room while the kit and his spiky blue friend enjoyed breakfast together. Tails had been telling Sonic excitedly about the _Steel Icarus_'successful test-run. Sonic had done mostly listening, being as that he didn't really know too much about mechanics.

Jesse interrupted the conversation suddenly, wailing.

"Oh you got to be kidding me!" he said, suddenly on his feet.

Sonic and Tails hurried into the room, asking what was going on. Jesse pointed at the television, which was showing the news.

"…_The smoke you see in the distance is what little remains of a local G.U.N. base after the nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog, _Metal Sonic_ was done with it."_ The two mobians stared in disbelief.

"No way, Metal's changed." Sonic stated, but after a moment of thought, amended his statement.

"To an extent." Jesse was fairly sure they had just suffered some defeat recently and blamed it on Metal, who seemed to now returned as far as the public would see.

"I don't know Sonic," Tails said, his wide eyes never leaving the screen.

"When he's not standing next to Nazo, just him looking at me makes me terrified."

Sonic understood that, of course. Metal had been the one robot Eggman had ever made that could really hurt him, and that was a nightmare for Tails.

Sonic however, was firmly convinced that Metal was on the path of change, and would never do something like this again without serious provocation.

"Alright, I've heard enough from the media, let's go see what Metal has to say himself."

Sonic turned and walked briskly out of the room. Tails looked at Jesse, who was working his jaw, deep in thought.

"Do you think Metal is guilty?" the young fox asked, hopeful.

Jesse turned off the T.V. "You're asking the wrong guy, Tails. All of my experiences with him have been bad ones." Tails' ears drooped as the hopeful look in his eyes died.

Tails turned to follow Sonic.

"Are you going to come with us?" Tails asked. Jesse turned to face him, but shook his head.

"I don't think we should introduce the _Steel Icarus_ to the general public yet, and my ribs aren't in good enough condition to run around yet."

Tails sighed, then left.

Jesse, now that he was alone, fell back into his defensive mindset that there could potentially be G.U.N. snipers heading in to take care of him right now, and saw to it that he had his trusty 44. Magnum on his belt, and he stayed away from the windows.

If G.U.N. decided to get in close quarters, he would have to retreat to the lab and make use of his new toy.

Half of him suddenly hoped G.U.N. was right outside.


	16. Chaos Vs Order Episode 16

Episode 16: The Faces of Death and Doom

Ashura sat in the tree that he had been in last time he had seen his brother; the two traveled so much that even though they dwelt in the same city, they didn't see each other that often. Currently he was inspecting the scars the tree had sustained when the bullet had ricocheted off of it.

The tree had healed over the wound fairly quickly, the bark rounding off what had been a jagged cut. Ashura ran his fingers over it knowing what would have happened to him or Sonic if the bullet had struck flesh…

"HELLO MOWHAWK!" Valerie yelled. Ashura jumped, he had been so fixed on the tree that he had apparently not noticed her standing at its base.

"Er, hi." Valerie put her hands on her hips. "I've been trying to get your attention for five minutes and all you have to say is 'er, hi'? puleese!" Ashura smiled, he had always found the way a girl said 'please' when she was perturbed funny.

Ashura jumped out of the tree and landed about six feet away from Valerie, off to her left.

"I trust Amy's shown you where all the best places to shop are?" immediately Valerie's eyes lit up.

"Yeah! There's this wonderful place down on 23rd street that has the best shoes ever! And they're like, crazy inexpensive!" Ashura almost fell over in a burst of laughter, and had to explain that Valerie's bipolar reaction was just plain funny.

Valerie play-slapped him in the shoulder, and then stuck out her bottom lip in a pretend pout.

"You're so mean." Ashura took a few deep breaths to regain control of himself.

"I try." Ashura started walking and motioned for Valerie to follow.

Valerie looked at Ashura, suddenly gave serious. "Have you seen the news? Metal Sonic wrecked a G.U.N. base this morning!" Much earlier, Valerie had known Metal was back because Ashura had told her, and Metal himself had met her before, under the guise of a tall and thin mobian lizard, but had revealed his eyes to her, proving his identity.

She had been with Amy at the time, who had told Metal that if he tried anything, she'd bash his head in with her piku hammer.

Ashura sighed, wondering if the repentant robot was really guilty.

"I saw the news, yes, but I can't help but want to think that he's innocent. I mean, he has actually gone to Sonic in private and begged for forgiveness. Don't tell **anyone** I told you that by the way." Valerie shrugged. "Okay, but if Metal Sonic is so into a 'new look' in life, then why hasn't he or someone stepped up to defend him?" Ashura knew just exactly what would happen to someone if they defended Metal, but keeping passive, simply replied; "That's a good question."

Metal was on the ARK, eerily aware that no G.U.N. personnel were anywhere to be found when he knew for certain that a decent force of them were up here.

Metal had no fear of them, he had not seen Shadow since Nazo had sent him away while at some old abandoned base, he cared not of its origins. Just the mention of Nazo made him suddenly even more ill at ease; what would the mighty keeper do if he knew that Metal had betrayed him? Even more worrying, Nazo probably knew already anyway.

Metal came around a corner his laser cannon out, ready for anything that was in the area.

Well, anything but a demonic hedgehog right up in his face. Metal staggered backward, firing at the still unmoving hedgehog. The laser passed harmlessly through the infernal creature's face, continuing on to put a small hole in the opposite wall.

"So you have come to me at last." The hedgehog said.

Metal's head snapped up as he remembered the hedgehog and that voice from his dream.

"Mephiles!" he exclaimed. The previously mentioned raised one hand to Metal, and the robot was instantly on his feet.

"What do you want from me?" Metal asked, his tone again cool. Mephiles gave a light chuckle.

"It is not what I want of you, but what you want of me." Metal Sonic recalled the part of his dream where Mephiles offered power enough to defeat all of his foes.

"Tell me why I should devote myself to one and no longer be independent, as I always have." Mephiles crossed his arms before responding.

"I will give you the power to destroy your nemesis, and in return, you will acknowledge me to the world as a god." Metal scoffed aloud.

"Many have come claiming to be gods, and all have fallen. Do not assume that they were without power, but nevertheless, they all now reside in the grave." Mephiles held his hands out shoulder-length to his sides, and two gems that appeared to be black chaos emeralds.

"I am a god born of the destruction of another god. My father was Solaris, god of the sun, who was destroyed. Upon His destruction, two new gods were born; Myself and my brother, Iblis, who also has been destroyed. Therefore, I alone am God."

Metal saw in one gem the face of a fiery monster, presumably Iblis, and in the other a great phoenix, who was far more overpowering than either Iblis of Mephiles. This had to be Solaris.

"Gods cannot die." Metal said simply.

Mephiles was beginning to lose patience with Metal, the simple machine should not be so set against His divine power. Mephiles would have simply wiped Metal from existence, placing him in the core of a star somewhere, but He was afraid of the android's fleshly counterpart. Sonic, Shadow, and Silver, who now had yet to be born, had defeated Solaris after Mephiles re-joined to Iblis and brought their father back to life. After that, Solaris had ceased to exist. The hedgehog and the princess of the nation once devoted to Solaris then traveled through time and destroyed Iblis as a small, weak flame.

They had all thought that they had killed Solaris, but He was long gone by then. Now only Mephiles remained, but His power grew every day, and soon He would take the universe and put it into perfect order, with Him as its god. The only obstruction was Sonic. Sonic had destroyed both Solaris and Iblis, and so was more than capable of destroying Him. That's why He stole a Master Emerald from the Keeper of Chaos, He would need it to protect Himself from Sonic until He was powerful enough on his own.

"You will help me, Metal Sonic," Mephiles declared. "one way or another."

Mephiles waved his hand and the gems disappeared. Waving his other hand, Mephiles loosed a bit of His power on Metal Sonic, pinning him to the wall with his arms outstretched, as if he was crucified.

Mephiles walked over to Metal and placed his hand upon the robot's chest.

Metal's paint began to recolor, his base color becoming dark purple and his quill accents becoming jet black.

"You are now a witness to My power." Mephiles announced. Metal dropped to the floor, landing on his knees and quickly buckling down onto his hands as well.

"What have you done to me!" Metal screeched. Mephiles grabbed the center quill on Metal's head and dragged him to his feet.

"I have made you stronger than you ever have been before. I have made you mine, Metal Sonic. Wherever you go, people will know you as my witness."

Metal thrust out his hand, his talons digging deep into Mephiles' stomach, and the wound bled.

"Chaos Blast!" Metal hissed, and the beam of lethal green energy sent Mephiles far away from Metal. Metal stood and looked up to where Mephiles should have been.

There was a dent in the wall where Mephiles had hit, but Mephiles himself was not there.

A flicker caught Metal's eye, and he turned to his right with super speed. A mirror. Metal clomped over and inspected himself. His shape remained the same, with the exception of the drape that normally hung about his waist; instead his shoulders bore a dark velvet cape. Everywhere on him that had been yellow was now blue, what was blue was now midnight purple, and what was gray and silver was now black.

Mephiles had also tattooed his chest with some alien symbol that Metal guessed was the so-called god's mark. Metal stared at himself a moment longer, then smashed the mirror into a thousand pieces.

"Don't like the new paint job, Metal?" Shadow asked from the doorway. Metal whipped around and stalked right up to the Ultimate Life Form.

Metal's fist clenched and unclenched, as if he was thinking about whether he should wallop Shadow or not.

Before Metal could though, Shadow leapt up and kicked Metal square in the tattoo, knocking over.

"I saw what he did to you Metal Sonic, but it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been on the ARK in the first place. Why are you here, anyway?" Shadow asked suspiciously.

Metal stood up. "I am going to make an overview of the Eclipse Cannon and build my own from it."

Metal about slapped himself, he had no intention of telling Shadow that, but it just came out. _Might as well play the cards dealt._ Metal decided.

"And don't think you can stop me."

Shadow eyed him for a moment. "Chaos Spear!" Metal was barley able to bring his hand up to keep the projectile from hitting him in the face before the impact knocked him on his back again.

Okay, so the half of him that wanted G.U.N. to barge in so he could use the _Steel Icarus_ on them was quite repentant.

Jesse was in Tail's lab, unable to get to the armored suit without risking getting shot. G.U.N. had sent in a group of shock troopers armed with 10 gauge shotguns, so Jesse had wasted no time getting away from them. Where he was now, he could only take the occasional potshot at them, then duck before they returned fire.

The only way he could get into the armor was if he chaos-controlled, but he didn't have the emerald, it was lodged into the armor's chest.

Jesse stared at the orange emerald longingly, it was his only hope of getting out of this mess, but he could not get to it either.

The shock troopers weren't going anywhere, they seemed like they would wait forever for him to come out, and Jesse was running low on ammo anyway.

When a man's life is in danger, he comes up with ideas that would otherwise be considered irrational and stupid, and such was the idea that next popped into Jesse's head.

Sonic had chaos-controlled without an emerald before, and still lived, so what about him?

Jesse calmed himself, recalling what the inside of the _Steel Icarus_ looked like, and tried to mentally gather whatever chaos energy there might be inside of him.

"C-Chaos…" Jesse closed his eyes. "Control." He experienced a jolt, then he was on his feet, but considerably fatigued. Opening his eyes, Jesse saw that he was indeed inside the _Steel Icarus_ and the shock troops were still pointing their shotguns at the overturned console Jesse had been hiding behind.

Jesse blinked once, twice, then four times, and the standby status of the armor fired up to maximum power, all systems coming back online.

The exceedingly loud noise of the _Steel Icarus_ activating drew the attention of the shock troopers to it, and they began pumping their shotguns for all they were worth.

It was folly, however, the shield was the first system to come back up: Jesse was invulnerable to their small arms fire.

Jesse blinked at a microphone icon in the corner of his visor and the armor's speaker turned on.

"There's no way for you to get me now guys." Jesse announced with an irate tone.

"If you get out of here now, I won't kill you, which I'd really rather not do anyway. Go back to your superiors and tell them I'm tired of all the killing, all the mothers who have to be told their son is dead because he came after me and failed. All I want is to forget any of this happened." Jesse knew it wasn't likely that the men who started the whole things would back down, they would fear that he would come to assassinate them, so they wanted him dead, just so they could sleep at night, not that they still thought he's speak of secret military projects.

A couple of the shock troopers looked like they were considering it, but after a moment they all pointed their shotguns at him again.

Jesse truly did feel regret for having to kill all these people, sometimes he wondered if he really was committing genocide against G.U.N.

Forcing such thoughts out of his head, Jesse pulled the triggers on his turrets and put a bullet in each of their heads.

Sonic was beginning to wonder if he had been wrong and Metal really had committed his accused crime. Tails tagged along behind him, his feet barley off the ground as his namesakes propelled him forward like a jet turbine. Sonic had gone everywhere he thought Metal would be, they even took a fly around Angel Island to see if Metal had gone there. Sonic was afraid to ask Nazo where Metal was, he wasn't sure of the robot's integrity anymore.

As he was running, a car drove up alongside him, and the driver motioned for him to pull over.

The car had government agency license plates, so Sonic complied. Sonic and Tails stood side by side as the doors on the car opened up, and a G.U.N. colonel stepped out, along with a small group of F.B.I. agents.

"What's up guys?" Sonic asked casually. One man straightened his tie.

"We know that you're hiding this man in the fox's home." The colonel stated, producing a military I.D. card of Jesse.

"Hiding? We made no attempt to make it secret. If you're looking to get me to admit or something, there you go. He's there." The colonel looked at one of the older men, a look of inexperience in this kind of thing all over his face.

"You do realize he's a terrorist?" the colonel inquired, hopeful.

"Not the way he says it. The way he says it you people tried to off him just because he got mixed up in some hush-hush project of yours." Sonic had lost his carefree appearance and adopted a serious gaze. The colonel was obviously displeased.

"We were hoping that he hadn't told you about that. Unfortunately, since he told you, he may tell others, so it still stands that he needs to be neutralized." Sonic didn't like to make the authorities unhappy with him on purpose, but just walking in and eliminating someone just because they know things you don't want them to is wrong.

"Don't you think you're going to barge into Tails' house now." Sonic threatened.

The young colonel stepped back into the car along with the group of agents.

"We already have."

Ashura and Valerie were walking down the street when Sonic ran by followed by Tails and a government vehicle. The latter was concerning for Ashura, and he would have liked to dash away and ask just what the hack was going on, but he felt it rather rude to run off on Valerie, so he settled for her pace.

As it was, Ashura and Valerie got there only as the car was driving off, leaving an overly worrisome Tails and a very angry Sonic.

"What was that all about, bro? Did they give you a ticket for speeding?" he asked sarcastically.

Sonic's cool came back, albeit slowly, but he turned and walked in the direction they had been going.

"The G.U.N. found out that we had Jesse in Tails' house and have apparently taken the liberty to bust in and arrest him, or kill, whichever they did." Sonic sighed.

"The point is, they broke into Tails' house and there must have been a fight between Jesse and them, you know how well he fights. Tails' house is probably in shambles."

Tails, next to him, was about ready to cry, thinking of all the projects he had going that were now likely ruined.

Sonic put his hand on Tails' shoulder, soothing him.

"It's okay Tails. Jesse is smart enough to know not to send there fire at your stuff." Valerie pulled Ashura off to the side a second.

"Who's this 'Jesse' guy he keeps talking to? And why is G.U.N. after him?" Ashura looked at Sonic and Tails, who were walking ahead of them, and replied,

"He's a human who has been running from G.U.N. for about a week now. He was involved in some secret project he won't talk about, and G.U.N. ended it, exterminating everyone involved but him. Me and Sonic found him in the park we were at earlier fighting G.U.N. two days ago. We've had him holed up in Tails' house since."

Valerie nodded, but she clearly didn't comprehend the concept of one being able to stand against authorities yet still stand with the heroes.

Ashura and Valerie accompanied Sonic and Tails back to Tails' house, which was surprisingly spotless.

They found Jesse around back in front of four freshly filled graves, the upright 2-by-fours decorated only with dog tags.

Jesse himself had his back to them, sitting on a stone bench, his hands folded in front of his mouth, clutching his own dog tags.

Jesse was also sobbing quietly, but sobered when he realized that there were people behind him.

"*Sniff* Hey. So, did you find out if Metal is innocent or guilty?" Sonic sighed again. Valerie walked over to the graves and held up one of the dog tags.

"He was only 19." Jesse said bleakly. When Valerie looked back to him, she noticed tear streaks running down the man's face.

Valerie looked at the other three graves and wondered what the people filling them had been like in life.

Sonic sat down next to Jesse. "They came for you again, didn't they?" Jesse heaved a long exhale, and then nodded.

"I didn't just kill them either. I got in the armor and gave them a chance to leave after they proved they couldn't do anything to me, but they refused. They would have detonated the place if that's what it took." Tails had already gone in the house, and Ashura motioned for Valerie to follow him inside.

Jesse lowered his head even further, his hands now up against the top of his forehead, ruffling the front of his reddish-brown hair.

"G.U.N. confronted me about keeping you here earlier, that's why I'm back with no answer on Metal. I think we're going to have to find somewhere else for you to stay soon."

Jesse nodded and then stood. Taking a deep breath, Jesse turned his back on the resting place of four souls come to pass.


	17. Chaos Vs Order Episode 17

Episode 17: Power Distribution

Jesse had gone to the back room in Tails' house, where he had been staying for the last couple of days. That left Sonic, Tails, Ashura and Valerie in the main rooms of the house.

Valerie sat on the couch while Sonic and Ashura stood nearby, discussing what would happen to an object of great density if it was propelled at the speed of sound into a 40 ft thick brick wall. Tails had gone into the kitchen to get drinks for everyone, and upon returning also brought a modified G.P.S. as well.

"Ooh, shiny object!" Ashura said jokingly, eyeing Tail's weird device.

"What is that, though?" Ashura asked. Sonic came around the front of the couch to get a better view. Valerie stood up, the area getting slightly crowded.

"A little space please, boys." Ashura quickly backed off, and Sonic just moved to the other side of Tails, who was about to laugh his head off.

"Anyway, this is a device that I can use to Find Metal Sonic, that way we don't have to go running all over the world to find him." Tails set it to scan for Metal, after uploading several images of the robot, then set it down on the counter while it scanned.

"Who's your friend here, Ashura? I don't think we've been introduced." Sonic smiled as he spoke, seeing that Ashura was blushing.

"Not like anyone doesn't know you, but, Valerie, this is Sonic, Sonic, This is Valerie. And yes, she's already met Amy." Valerie was about to say something more when there was a green flash and Nazo stood among them, the seven Super emeralds orbiting him.

"I decided that since you were all in one place, I might as well pop in now." Nazo's commanding voice wasn't as strong as it normally was, but only Sonic really seemed to notice.

Upon hearing Nazo's voice, Jesse came bursting out into the main room.

"I've got a few questions for you!" Nazo raised an eyebrow as he looked at Jesse.

"First, why was your first impulse to drop me right in the middle of a G.U.N. base!"

Nazo looked at Jesse's neck and was obviously indicating his dog tags.

"Do they not say 'G.U.N.' on them?" Jesse proceeded to take off the dog tags and throw them back the way he had come.

"Next question. Can humans use chaos energy just like mobians?" Nazo adopted a 'duh' face.

"Of course. Every race can, some just have become lax in its usage over the years. Your people have been developing technology, and so have almost abandoned the use of Chaos. Think about your history. In the Dark Ages, all the times where you here of magic, it is the use of chaos."

Jesse had never imagined that that was possible, so that perfectly explained why he chaos-controlled earlier.

"Final question. What the heck are those things floating around you?"

Nazo reached out and grabbed the gold Super Emerald. Nazo looked at it for a moment, then held it out to Tails.

Tails looked first at the Emerald, then at Nazo, then at everyone else.

"Take it, it's yours." Nazo reassured.

Tails gingerly reached out and touched the Emerald. When it didn't explode or zap him, or any other understandably avoidable effects, he took it and stared at it.

Nazo next held out the blue Emerald to Ashura and the red one to Sonic.

The hedgehogs were more bold, and coupled with seeing Tails now inspecting his gems' every detail, were much quicker to take their emeralds.

Nazo flashed a quick smile at Jesse, and then grabbed the orange Emerald. He held it out to Jesse, who half sighed and half laughed.

"Oh the irony. All my adventures with the orange chaos emerald and now I get a new one an steroids." Tails suddenly frowned.

"Aw man! I'll have to readjust the size of the generator on the _Steel Icarus_ so we can fit your new emerald in there!" Jesse frowned too, then looked back to his emerald.

"Dang! It's at least four inches wider and deeper than the chaos emerald! That'll take all day to adjust!" Jesse suddenly got a glimmer in his eye as a smile spread over his face.

"But I'll wager these are a lot more powerful." Nazo smiled. "Yes, these hold more power than a Chaos Emerald. But there is a drawback." Everyone looked to Nazo, even Valerie, who had come to stand with Ashura, who allowed her to inspect and even hold his Emerald. Nazo made the remaining Super Emeralds invisible before continuing.

"They have no Master Emerald, so they only have so much power. Right now they are three times more powerful than any one Chaos Emerald, but over time their reservoir will deplete. If you use their power in large amounts constantly, then after a year's time you'll only have a big gem." Sonic tossed his into the air then caught it as it came down.

"So no world-warping Chaos controls. Got it." Ashura gave Sonic a high-five. In response, Jesse sighed, Tails groaned Valerie rolled her eyes and Nazo shook his head.

Seeing all the negative responses, Ashura winced.

"Ooh. Fail." Sonic shot him a hurt look. Nazo adjusted the clasp of his cape and cleared his throat. All was quiet, except the light beeping from Tails G.P.S. thing.

Tails rushed over to it, hopeful. Jesse experienced dejavu as he saw the same face Tails gave him earlier as his hopeful look died.

"What is it, buddy?" Sonic asked. Tails looked up at him, his face grave.

"Metal's not on earth." Nazo lowered his head for a minute then looked at the group.

"He's on the ARK. And he is no longer for us, either."

Nazo sighed. "He's been with Mephiles." Sonic's eyes shot wide open.

"Did you just say Mephiles!"

Metal scrambled to his feet, narrowly avoiding another chaos spear. Shadow shouldn't be able to be this battle-worthy right now, but as usual, Shadow didn't care what anyone else thought.

Metal returned fire with a few bullets, sending Shadow dancing around the corner. Metal started to take a step back, but tripped on his new cape and fell over again, snarling.

Shadow took advantage of the moment and came around the corner again, but this time he had an mp-5 in his hand, with which he pelted Metal's torso. The submachine hardly had the penetration power to do damage to Metal, but it kept him stunned long enough for Shadow to land a kick directly to his face.

Metal was knocked backwards, which he was getting tired of. The angry robot reached around to his back and tore off the cape, hurling it to the side.

"Chaos Blast!" the beam of lethal Chaos energy filled the space Shadow had just occupied. Shadow came out of his Chaos-Control in the air next to Metal, already kicking.

Metal was again knocked over. Metal spin-jumped up, one of his feet scoring a kick into the Ultimate Life form's ribcage, sending him careening into the wall.

Metal executed a spin-dash, further driving Shadow into the wall. Metal dropped out of his spin-dash just to be chaos-speared as Shadow retaliated with another flurry of kicks and punches.

Metal's hands were up and blocking with computerized speed, so Shadow only drove a few strikes home. Shadow landed feet-first on the wall, quickly dashing off of it just before one of Metal Sonic's fists collided with the wall where Shadow had just stood.

Shadow kicked Metal in the back, but failed to knock him over. Metal Sonic spun around and grabbed Shadow's leg at the ankle.

Much to Metal's surprise, Shadow smiled when he did so. "Chaos Control!"

Shadow and Metal were enveloped in a green haze as the teleportation sent them wherever Shadow had willed.

Eggman had moved from the Egg Moon to a newly constructed palace in France while Fatal was on the ARK, so Titan had immediately detoured for France as soon as he came within the wi-fi information zone of the Egg Moon.

Right now, Titan was standing in the over-sized courtyard with an injured but quickly healing Fatal before him on a stretcher, each of the two associates relaying their concerning revelations in turn.

"When I was on the ARK, the first thing I found was Shadow. I didn't get to even one man before Shadow put me down for at least 20 minutes." Eggman sat in a large pappasan chair while listening, his face passive.

"When I woke up, I was surprised to find a trail of G.U.N. personnel not far from where I was, each room becoming more and more fresh with the scent of death.

Eventually I found Shadow in a large storage room, but he wasn't alone." Titan shifted a little, slightly startling the navy hedgehog.

"Anyway, it was like a ghost, just a cloud made of smoke. But when it took a form…" Fatal shuddered.

"I'm sorry Doctor, I have hidden a secret from you." Eggman raised an eyebrow. Fatal was silent for a moment, and Eggman guessed that as experienced as Fatal might seem due to his inherited memories, he was experiencing the first thing in his life that weighed heavily on him.

"Well let's have it then. What's bothering you, Fatal?" Eggman leaned forward, looking only a little more concerned that way.

"While we were conquering here, there was a… being that invaded my mind in my sleep, and dissected my being. He called himself Mephiles, and it was that same person who was… well it was more like toying with Shadow up there."

Eggman knew very well the extent of Shadow's power, most of his time designing Fatal was spent seeing that splicing Sonic to Shadow didn't downgrade his outcome.

"He tricked Shadow and me into shoving overcharged Chaos Spears into each other's guts after saying that he was a god." Fatal rolled over to face Eggman, but quickly rolled back as his torso punished him for his incompetence

"I'm done now, you can tell your share Titan." Fatal managed to say between grunts and gasps.

The immense robot lowered to one knee, so he could spare his master a neck ache later on from looking up for a long period of time.

Eggman smiled at this, recalling the tedious programming of the finest machine in the empire and telling himself over and again that it would be worth it later.

"After I delivered my charge at his destination, I went to wait at the dust-off zone, where I had an invigorating experience." Eggman raised his eyebrow again. "Do tell."

"I had a short fight with my predecessor, Metal Sonic." Eggman's surprise was great enough that he not only thought, but blurted,

"What was he doing up there!" Something popped in Eggman's head. "You didn't let him get in the ARK, did you?" Titan's mouth, passive before, curved down.

"I do not know if he boarded the ARK after we left. I am sorry Master." Eggman shook his head.

"Don't be upset, you were only following your directive." Titan appeared to be relieved.

"I suppose a shot to the face with a 106 millimeter cannon would do much damage to my predecessor?"

Titan was looking for approval without coming right out and saying it, but Eggman was more than intelligent enough to see it.

"No, but he would have been considerably stunned." Eggman leaned back in his round chair, crossing his hands and resting them on his belly.

"The appearance of Metal Sonic is concerning, but more so is knowing that there's something that can outdo Shadow when I didn't put it there. The closest to 'Mephiles' that I can think of is Mephistopheles, of Faust legend." Titan was familiar with all such things, he had more information in his head that the Library of Congress. Fatal, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. Obviously confused, Fatal tried to sit up, but was sternly corrected by his sore muscle tissue.

"Mephistopheles, according to the Faust legend, was another name for the devil." Fatal nodded.

"He _was_ undeniably powerful." Eggman removed a remote from his pocket and pushed a button.

"We'll have to look into that, but for now, you need to look into the inside of your eyelids." A stocky robot walked in and began to push off Fatal's stretcher.

Titan watched the robot cart away the navy powerhouse, then turned to Eggman, who was folding up his chair.

"if such a being is able to stay the ultimate life form, then should we not be concerned for the security of the empire, now that we finally have gained land on this planet, after so long?"

Eggman paused to think. "I have a feeling that we're going to need to not only expand our foothold, but I might have to try to take the Master Emerald from its over-obsessed guardian." Titan stirred.

"About that…"


	18. Chaos Vs Order Episode 18

Episode 18: Proof of Purchase

Sonic stared wide-eyed at Nazo. He _**KNEW**_ that Mephiles had been destroyed when princess Elise had blown out Solaris, but Nazo had just said that Metal Sonic was in the company of Mephiles.

"Are you sure that you mean 'Mephiles'?" Sonic asked. Nazo was returning his look with a face that read; "What do you mean, 'am I sure'?"

"Yes, of course I'm sure. Why are you so concerned over it?" Sonic's eyes began racing, meanwhile his heart began to beat faster.

"Mephiles is gone, destroyed! How is it possible for _anyone_ to be with him!"

Ashura was concerned now, Sonic didn't get this concerned over nothing.

"Hey, you okay bro?" he asked. Sonic was swaying now, his eyes still darting with no sign of slowing down.

Sonic's mind was flooded with the memories of death, his death, and the one who finally had been able to kill him.

Mephiles.

Sonic heard his laughter again, loud and evil, like a demon twisting the life out of some poor soul.

_That's right you rodent, I still live! And this time, Silver is not here to help you. Shadow has proven to be impotent as well. _Mephiles presence in his mind was suffocating him physically, so Sonic began to lose consciousness.

Sonic fell over suddenly, eliciting alarm in all present. The last thing Sonic heard before losing all concept of reality was Tails shouting.

"SONIC!"

Shadow and Metal exited the Chaos-Control outside and well away from the ARK. Metal Sonic took a moment to realize what had just happened, but that was the same moment that Shadow removed his leg from Metal's grasp and Chaos-Controlled back to the ARK, leaving a stunned Metal Sonic floating in space.

_Well that's as embarrassing a way to be kicked out of another's house as any._ Metal thought to himself. Metal noticed – now that he had a chance to really inspect it – Mephiles' mark was glowing slightly.

_I don't care who says they 'own' me, I belong to myself, and I'm not leaving without those blueprints._

Metal Sonic blasted forward directly toward the enormous barrel of the Eclipse Cannon, intending to go right to the weapon with no interference.

Metal Sonic thrashed open the hull of the ARK upon coming to it, and found himself in a familiar room. It was cliché that Gerald Robotnik would craft this room after the prop room for the Death Star of Star Wars, but that little mattered to Metal; he was going to attach his Eclipse Cannons to satellites and possibly a battleship. Metal made the appropriate scans, with surprisingly no intervention on the part of Shadow, and fled the ARK at the speed of sound.

Knowing that he looked different, and as such lose the element of surprise, Metal had only one person to blame if all went wrong. Mephiles.

Fatal stared up at the ceiling, watching the lights pas by as he was carted down a long hall, while listening to the steady clomping of the machine moving his stretcher along.

Fatal knew that without his machines, Eggman was no real threat to anybody. It pained him to know that if he could tear apart any of Eggman's robots, with very few exceptions, then how much easier would it be for Mephiles to do so? What the empire needed was more territory, and the best target to have at next would be either the United Kingdom or to start taking over Africa. Either way, Fatal needed to be out on the front lines, pushing the G.U.N. and local military forces away, not just settling for stalemates due to his absence.

Much to the surprise of the semi-intelligent droid moving his cart along, Fatal sprang up and ran back down the hall with speed equal to that of Sonic.

As Fatal rushed past a particularly startled Eggman he called out; "Know I've never disobeyed you, but there's a first for everything!" Eggman stood there for a moment, his heart pounding away as if he was the one running past the sound barrier, before finally calming and laughing his peculiar laugh.

Titan had the absolute most advanced technology known to be in existence put into his creation; he had a nano-nerve system so he could _feel_. If Titan stood out in the cold, he would start shivering, etc. so when a sonic boom came blasting past him being led by a navy blur, he felt every chip of stone, gravel, and whatever else had been trailing Fatal at terminal velocity, almost making him howl with pain. Almost.

Titan caught up with Eggman, who was currently being fussed over by his yes-men, Diecoe and Bocoe.

"You're just going to let him go?" Titan asked. Eggman turned around to the overly-sized machine.

"Knowing how I built his personality, he's most likely going to see to the front-lines himself. Besides, if I can't handle Sonic, why would I want to keep a Sonic-Shadow cross tucked away in my jacket?" Eggman turned and began walking again. That was also something new about Eggman that Titan had seen recently.

Eggman had begun to care about how other people saw him; not meaning him as a person, but being called an obese freak for many years must have finally gotten to his master's head.

Eggman had taken up the habit of walking more than riding in his Eggart, and security tapes showed that Eggman was a frequent visitor to the gym he had installed in his new palace. Titan thought that his master's sudden fad in fitness was funny, being that as a machine, he would never have to work out to 'maintain his figure'.

Eggman stopped about twenty paces away, and turned around.

"Do a favor for me Titan, forward all that data you collected on the anomalies you detected near the Master Emerald." Titan bowed his head.

"Yes, of course master."

Sonic had been rushed to the E.R. after he had what everyone else thought might have been a seizure, Amy had joined them and had been going crazy over Sonic's unresponsiveness. Tails had also been relatively frantic, and Ashura was the only one who did not seem to be in a frenzy. The doctors couldn't figure out why Sonic had a seizure, there was no record of seizures in his family, and Sonic was one of the most fit people in the world.

"The only probable cause is that he suffered some mental trauma. He should be fine by next Tuesday." The doctor was doing his best to sound reassuring, but the three mobians didn't look very confident.

Amy sat at the side of the bed and just talked to Sonic, not about anything very specific, save that she was grateful that at least he was slowed down enough she could talk to him. Amy talked for over an hour, near the end of which Tails left to return to his workshop, saying he really was concerned for Sonic, but last time he left Jesse alone in his house G.U.N. had come try to kill the poor man.

Amy stayed for a little longer after she was done talking to Sonic, and then left, leaving Ashura alone with his brother.

Ashura, always being the more serious one, had never gotten to see things like Sonic had when they were growing up. As preteens, Sonic and Ashura had gotten in a fight over whether or not they should stay and take care of their father or go stop Eggman, after which Sonic had left and the two had not seen each other for seven years.

Ashura walked over to the bedside and looked at Sonic's unconscious face.

"C'mon bro, you gotta fight through this! I don't know what happened, but I do know that you're stronger than any ailment thrown your way!" Ashura was silent for a moment, hoping for a grunt or something, but no such luck.

Ashura suddenly had a revelation that Nazo had said something big was going to happen, and with Sonic conveniently out of the way, something big was likely to happen.

Saying his goodbyes to his comatose brother, Ashura quickly left the hospital and ran for Tails' house; he was going to need a plane.

When Ashura and Tails neared Angel Island, they could see Nazo and Knuckles fighting, and concerned glances had been exchanged. Upon landing, they were relieved to discover Nazo and Knuckles only sparring, the former training the latter.

"No, step with your left foot. That's it. When you strike, don't bother driving it all the through so much." Knuckles was jumping, punching and kicking with a speed that Tails hadn't known he possessed.

"But why not?" Knuckles paused a moment to ask his question. Nazo paused too, floating back to the ground.

"With your strength, you don't really need to go all the way through with an attack. You will same time by using more glancing strikes that still wield amazing damage." Knuckles raised an eyebrow. Nazo continued.

"Although the bits of time are not much on their own, you will find that when against masses, those bits will add up to formidable amounts of time in your advantage."

Knuckles nodded. Looking up, he saw Tails and Ashura waiting on a nearby rock, each with concerned looks on their faces.

Nazo turned to face them, his eyes glinting as he read Ashura's face.

"Something's wrong, isn't there?" Knuckles asked as he came alongside Nazo. Solemnly, Ashura nodded. Tails looked up at him in anguish, Ashura having told him his dire revelation.

"As you know, Sonic just went into trauma." Knuckles and Nazo nodded. "Well, with Sonic out of the way, I can almost guarantee that whatever is going to happen is going to happen." Nazo fingered the black chain clasp of his cape.

"Perhaps. Nevertheless, we should make ourselves ready to defend this world." Nazo looked from Knuckles to Ashura to Tails.

"And that means I'm going to have to give one of the remaining super emeralds to Eggman's newest son, Fatal." The three Mobians dropped their jaws all at once.

"But he's… the _bad_ guy!" Tails Exclaimed. Nazo's eyes flashed in anger.

"Mephiles is far more important than defending lines on a map, young fox! The entire universe might be at stake here!" So sudden was Nazo's change from cool and collective to flat out mad was startling enough to make Knuckles take a step away from him.

Nazo's face softened as his eyes lost their rage. "I'm sorry Tails. I just never thought that there would ever be something this powerful set against me."

Tails smiled a bit, but didn't get to respond before Knuckles spoke instead.

"Certainly we should be doing something better than just standing around up here?" Ashura scratched the back of his head.

"Err…right." Tails, Knuckles and Ashura headed for the plane, they would have to go pick up Jesse and try to get G.U.N. to stop chasing him and spend their efforts for a more important cause. Nazo would go to the Atlas Mountain range in northern Africa and discuss the whole thing with Fatal. If he succeeded to persuade Fatal, Nazo would award him with one of the three remaining Super Emeralds and try to get Eggman to set aside his war for now and help against the coming evil.

Metal Sonic landed in the thick forests in the Atlas Mountains with a resounding thud. Too bad no one was in earshot of it. Metal Sonic's medium range radar detected two opposing forces approximately thirty-two and one-sixth miles to the west. Heading off in that direction, Metal sourly noticed that his cape somehow had reattached itself to his shoulders.

"That stupid Mephiles had no taste at all." He muttered as he started to run.

When he neared the battle scene, he took up a vantage point atop a stone straight out of the mountainside.

Down below him were the local military forces of Morocco and Algeria fighting alongside a contingent of G.U.N. soldiers, including several groups of the smaller mecha models, and two to three companies of foot soldiers. Across the clearing before him from the humans was a good six-hundred Eggman empire troops, with a strong diversity of models.

Leading Eggman's troops was the newest pride of Eggman, Fatal the Hedgehog. The little creature destroyed five enemies for every two the robots around him destroyed.

Metal picked up two high-speed blips on his radar closing in from three hundred feet, but dropping in altitude as they approached.

_Gunships. Great._ Metal thought as he leaped down from his perch to find cover.

The harriers roared as they dashed past, sending clusters of mini-missiles into the bulk of Eggman's robots. The fighters slowed and swung around, and Metal predicted that this time they would sit and gun down anything with a negative IFF code, which meant him.

Much to the human's dismay and to Fatal's delight, an Eggunner exited a teleportation warp in the sky above them, attracting the harriers' attention. Before Fatal could take advantage of the short pause in the opposing forces, he was chaos-controlled to the top of the mountain that overlooked the battle scene.

Metal, staring up at Nazo – who didn't seem to have noticed him yet – was quite thankful he had hopped down from his viewpoint, the Keeper would have been able to see him quite clearly from the short distance of thirty feet away.

Metal Sonic made good his escape and sought out the closest military warehouse, the blueprints for the Eclipse Cannon were too hard-earned to bother seeing what the Keeper of Chaos was doing to Eggman's pet.

In truth, Nazo had known quite well that Metal Sonic had been watching the battle, the robotic hedgehog showed up after he had. Nazo had let him be though; Metal Sonic's choices were his own.

Presently he was standing before a somewhat dazed Fatal, waiting for him to notice the large, glowing being standing before him.

Fatal got his bearings soon enough. Upon realizing he was far from the skirmish, his first impulse was to dash back down there, but he could not ignore the massive horde of chaos energy right behind him.

When Fatal turned to face Nazo, two emotions decorated his face, fear and anger, for but a split second, only the third, suspicion, held any length.

"Who…what are you?" Fatal asked, trying to mask his feelings. Not that it mattered, Nazo could see right through him.

"I am Nazo, I am the authority over the power of Chaos. Your next question, 'what do you want with me?' I answer with; Cooperation." Fatal blinked, wide eyed.

_He can read my thoughts! The only one who's ever been in my head before is…_

"Mephiles." Nazo finished for him. Fatal backed away from the shimmering hedgehog. "What's going on here? What do you mean, 'cooperation'? Make sense, damn it!"

Nazo crossed his arms and frowned. "Sit down boy, you're in for a long story." Fatal remained standing, but relaxed a bit.

"To understand certain details to come, know that the Master Emerald is not unique, six more exist, each one of the other colors of the rainbow." Fatal nodded, but disbelief was all over his face.

"A being named Mephiles has stolen one of the Master Emeralds, and uses this accomplishment to support his claim of godhood. He intends to subdue this world with conquest, for life is more abundant here than anywhere else in all of creation. I, as part of my response, crafted the Super-Emeralds, a set of Chaos Emeralds both larger and more powerful. I have given out four of them, and I intend to give one to you, but with a requisite." Fatal looked back down to the clearing below, the Eggman Empire had won, the majority of the human's forces either dead or taken prisoner. He sighed, wishing he had been there during the moment victory was declared.

Fatal turned back to Nazo, his face brazen.

"What do you want me to do with this 'super emerald'?" Nazo stretched out his hand, and the purple super emerald shimmered into sight resting on Nazo's palm.

"When the time comes that Mephiles rains the minions of his dark power upon the world, unite with those you now see as your enemies and stand against him." Fatal gave him a look of disgust.

"I have no interest in helping those who oppose Doctor Eggman." Nazo gently shook his head.

"And you have the right to make that decision. But only if all sides fight together will you survive to have sides at all." Fatal hesitated, but slowly took the emerald from Nazo's hand.

"I will abide by what Eggman says for me to do. If he decides to do what you suggest, than I will, if not, then no." Nazo lowered his arm.

"Very well then. I have no more to tell you, you may return to your armies." Nazo turned away from him and chaos-controlled.


	19. Chaos Vs Order Episode 19

Episode 19: It was _supposed _to by mythology!

E-123 Omega was the prize robot of the G.U.N. Being made up of Eggman's technologies, he was quite superior to any other G.U.N. opponent. Not that they were opponents, Omega had allied himself to them to get back at Eggman for abandoning such a capable weapon.

Omega had just finished an active-type diagnostic – where you actually use your systems, not just ask your computer to see if anything's wrong – when the klaxon alarms started blaring, indicating that hostile targets had infiltrated the base. All the men around him frenzied off to where the security voice had reported them to be.

Omega simply lumbered off in that direction. If Eggman had some of his inferior robots here, there would be no sense in getting all exited about it.

As he jogged (I think you could call it that) down one of the corridors, Rouge the Bat entered from a tributary corridor and fell into step beside him.

"Sounds like that Eggman is getting a little too sure of himself. What do you think, Omega?" She twisted her head to look up at his box-like head.

Omega looked her direction a moment, then looked back to where he was going.

"If Eggman has infiltrated the base, then you should be aware of what I think." Rouge looked dissatisfied. Fluttering her wings, she deftly landed herself on Omega's right shoulder.

"You're not one for enthusiasm, are you?" she sighed. If Omega heard her, he made no response.

Upon coming to the room where the 'infiltrators' were, Omega was both disappointed and suspicious.

Thirty or more foot soldiers had automatic rifles pointed at thee mobians and one human, who was on his knees with his hands on the back of his head.

Omega took a moment to recognize the three mobians, but Rouge had no issue whatsoever.

"…and instead of letting anyone try to explain, your first reaction is to point guns at us!"

Knuckles was in one of his classic fits, and the G.U.N. captain near him was taking care to remain well out of hitting range.

Rouge landed between the two and stuck her bottom lip out in a fake pout.

"Boys, boys, no need to get violent." She flashed a sparkly eye at Knuckles upon saying 'violent'. The echidna bared his teeth at her.

Rouge recognized Knuckles and Tails, but she hadn't a clue who the human was, and unless Sonic had dyed his fur and taken up a new hairstyle – not to mention change his eye color – that wasn't him.

The captain rolled his eyes. "Agent Rouge, there is no need for you to get involved, we have everything under control." Knuckles was about to say something, but Rouge cut him off.

"Come on, captain, it's quite obvious that you're keeping a good distance away from our hot-headed friend here."

Knuckles knew Rouge's game. She liked him, for whatever obscure reason, and would flirt and toy with him whenever she was around him.

He however, had no interest in her, because when it all boiled down, she was just a jewel thief, no matter what else she did.

Knuckles also couldn't stand people trying to defend him, like he was some weak thing. Rouge trying to defend him was just unacceptable.

"Shut up, Rouge!" he yelled. His sudden outburst made all the troops in the room take a step back.

Rouge shot him a hurt look, and was about to complain at him for not being a gentleman, when a large metal hand rested on her head.

Omega walked by Rouge, not looking to see her protesting face. He walked right up to Knuckles, who was only a fifth of his size and looked down.

"Target designate Knuckles. You have been identified as a hostile target. Logic dictates that this is not so. Why are you here?" Knuckles stared at him blankly.

"Uh, Tails? Translate." The fox unbuckled himself from his spot in the plan and began to climb down.

"He's saying that he doesn't think you're a bad guy, and he wants to know what's going here."

Tails walked up beside Knuckles and looked up at Omega. "We're here to try to get his name cleared." Tails pointed at Jesse, who was still in the uncomfortable position he had been in for three minutes.

"Oh, _now_ you notice me." Jesse said sarcastically when Omega looked at him with his emotionless eyes.

"Target, identify yourself." Jesse began to stand up, hesitating for a moment when guns were again brought to the ready, but managed to make it all the way up without getting shot.

"C'mon, Omega? You don't recognize me? You're the one who picked us out." Rouge looked at the captain, expecting answers, but he appeared as clueless as her.

"Chaos unit 07: Overpowering Orange." Omega said. Jesse smiled, a triumphant gleam in his eyes. He turned to face all the soldiers in front of him.

"When they briefed you on me, what did they tell you?" The captain adjusted his collar, but answered for them.

"You're a traitor. You've been in the employ of Eggman for several years now, spying on us, giving him data on all our newest gear." Jesse crossed his arms and huffed angrily, offended that he was being labeled as _that_. "Omega, who am I to you?"

Omega looked at the crowd, some of whom had walked off, seeing that nothing was going to happen, and if it did, Omega was there.

"Jesse O'Brien, United States Green Beret, elected as one of seven of the countries best soldiers for project Human Chaos. Assigned the orange chaos emerald upon training. Disappeared when project Human Chaos was terminated." Omega looked from Jesse to the stunned platoon and back.

"For what purpose do you inquire this information?" he asked, his voice portraying confusion showing emotion of any kind for the first time.

"They don't know." Jesse said. "No one does anymore. Just you, the president, and me. Everybody else is gone." Knuckles and Ashura exchanged looks.

The captain sighed. "Stand down men. O'Brien, you'll have to come with me. I'd prefer that you were in cuffs, though, just in case this is all a hoax." Jesse nodded, and put his arms behind him as he turned around.

"What are you going to do with him?" Ashura asked, stepping forward. Omega shifted his gaze to the hedgehog.

"I will see to it that Jesse O'Brien is investigated without prejudice. If he is found innocent, he will be pardoned. If he is guilty, he will be executed."

Jesse had no response to that, confident in what the results would be. Tails locked eyes with him, and lipped, "What about your mecha suit?" Jesse shrugged.

The platoon and captain took Jesse away, leaving the mobians and Omega alone in the hangar, except for the techs in the distance.

"You played that one up pretty well, knucklehead." Rouge said playfully. Knuckles shot her a withering glare, but to no end.

Ashura looked around a bit, and then put his hands on his hips while looking at everyone else.

"That was pretty useless. Now what are we supposed to do?" Only Tails made any response, Knuckles and Rouge had launched into one of their tirades again.

"I guess we go oppose Mephiles." Omega had already begun to stalk off to wherever, but stopped.

Knuckles and Rouge stopped bickering, _**nothing**_ stopped Omega. Said robot turned around swiftly and stomped back toward the Xtornado.

"Explain your statement 'oppose Mephiles'." Tails was dumbstruck, not at all sure how to answer.

"Mephiles has been defeated in the defeat of Solaris, has he not?" Tails was still dumbstruck, and he looked wildly to his companions for assistance.

"No, it is not how we would like it to be." Nazo's voice resonated the hangar, his body shimmering into existence a moment later.

Omega directed his attention to this newcomer, and technicians jabbering into walkie-talkies behind him dictated that there would be more investigation in force.

"New target, identify." Omega demanded. Nazo did not bother to answer that question just yet.

"Omega, you recall the past, or rather the future, though it will never come to pass now, but you are unaware of the present." Omega stared at Nazo for a moment before repeating.

"New target, identify." Omega made his demand clear by shifting his hands into machineguns.

"I am not intimidated by your weapons, Omega, but I will answer you. My name is Nazo." Omega, appeased, put his guns away and brought his hands out again.

"I suppose there's something important you're going to tell us?" Ashura asked. Nazo nodded.

"Mephiles has created more of his minions, those dark things he modeled after birds and such. The Red Canyons are under attack." Knuckles was all too happy to leave Rouge behind, and motioned for Ashura and Tails to come along.

"Come on Tails, I'll need you to fly me back up to Angel Island." Nazo gave him a look of disappointment, but Knuckles didn't notice.

Omega began to speak again, but Nazo answered the question before it was asked.

"You will learn all you need to know in time, Omega, but for now, just be aware that Mephiles doesn't care what happened before, he's back."

Nazo had not known there was a 'back', but he had secretly searched through Sonic's mind for answers, and he found them.

Rouge had not taken her eyes off of Nazo the entire time, silenced by the sight of him.

Nazo finally gave her notice, staring back blankly as she stared at him.

"What?" When Rouge did not reply, he simply shrugged and turned away. "Omega, I believe you should inform your allies that their war is about to get a lot more interesting."

The robot nodded, then turned and jetted off down the corridor. Rouge snapped back to reality, and hesitatingly followed Omega.

Nazo, seeing no further reason to be wasting time here, walked out of the hangar and continued walking toward Station Square.

Knuckles sat in the back of the plane brooding. _Why does that bat always have to say something? Why doesn't she just get the hint and leave me alone? ..For that matter, why doesn't _anyone_ leave me alone?_

Knuckles looked down toward the ocean, and found a surprise. There was a dark shape in the water; shaped oddly like a bullet, and it was heading straight toward Station Square's bay.

"Tails…" He began. "Yeah, I see it too!" The kit swung the little aircraft around, and began to follow the submersed object back toward the city.

Out in the desert about halfway between area 99 and Station Square, Nazo, who had been previously looking unseeing at the ground, mulling over ways to combat Mephiles if he failed to get the people of Earth to unite behind him, when he sensed an amount of Mephiles' power quickly entering the bay.

Snapping his head up and his eyes wide open, the silver-white Keeper launched himself through the air, straight toward the beach.

Knuckles already had a bad feeling about this, but now that whatever it was came shooting into the bay at dangerous speeds, even his slow mind knew there was something wrong.

"Tails, Ashura! We need to get down there, now!" Knuckles pointed to a small peninsula on the beach, still populated by unsuspecting citizens.

Ashura, who had been reclining on the tail fin of the plane, now was standing tall, grasping his former resting spot with one hand.

Much to the mobians' surprise, first one, the two more dragon-like heads emerged from the water, and an enormous wave formed in front of them.

"A sea monster!" Knuckles exclaimed. Three more heads appeared behind the first three, then another three behind that.

"Just what is that thing!" Ashura gasped, his face twisted in disgust.

"It is called a hydra." A voice said next to the three. Floating next to the plane, keeping up with no troubles at all, stood (he appeared to be standing on solid ground) a tall black hedgehog, with dull periwinkle highlights. His eyes were a bright orange, with lemon-green irises, and the pupils colored the same as the base, giving his irises a disc-effect, like Metal Sonic.

"Mephiles…" Knuckles whispered, not realizing he had said it until said being looked at him.

"Ah, so you begin to remember. Well, why don't you deal with my pet for now, hmm?"

Mephiles disappeared, and the tidal wave began to fall upon the beach.

Nazo zipped in front of the tsunami, outstretching his arms. The wave stopped dead in its tracks.

The people who had just been running away stopped to gape and wonder. Nazo looked over his shoulder and grimaced.

"Go!" he ordered. Further backing his instruction, the first three heads of the hydra breached through the wall of water, and the people waited no further.

Nazo turned his attention back to the sea. Exerting his will over nature, the tidal wave came crashing down in the opposite direction that it had been flowing, pushing the hydra back several hundred yards.

Tails landed the Xtornado near the docs and the three mobians came rushing to the beach to assist the Keeper.

The hydra's forelegs emerged from the sea and descended upon the beach. Tails gaped at the massive limb, it was thicker than a semi truck with trailer is wide!

Nazo's hands became drenched in green chaos energy, static lightning tracing around each of the orbs.

Clapping his hands together, Nazo combined the two and sent the growing ball of power straight at the creature's middle-front head.

The mouths of the hydra's front three heads opened, and three blue beams of energy came forth, combined, and struck Nazo's attack.

The two forces collided with an explosion, the shockwaves shaking all the nearby buildings to the foundations.

The hydra's glistening obsidian scales sparkled at the sunlight reflected off of their still wet surfaces.

"How are we supposed to beat it!" Ashura exclaimed. "If it can do _that_, then nothing I do is going to do anything! Knuckles? What are you doing?"

The echidna was rushing forward, his own gloved hands each holding what appeared to be balls of glowing-hot magma.

Knuckles ran straight at the hydra's left foreleg, heaving one of the magma balls into it with all his great strength upon reaching it.

The effect was more than Knuckles was hoping for. Instead of exploding, like Knuckles had thought it would do, the magma burned well into the hydra's leg and _then_ exploded, sending chunks of scales and burned meat everywhere. Knuckles heaved the other ball into the already-injured leg, and the hydra road in pain and in rage.

The leg was lifted out of Knuckles reach, but too late he realized the hydra was going to crush him.

Nazo saw what was going to happen, and sent several bolts of energy into one of the hydra's many eyes, blinding it.

Tails and Ashura had gone back to the plane, and they were now coming up behind the hydra.

"Do you have any chaos attacks, Ashura?" Tails yelled, barely hearable above the wind and propeller.

Ashura smirked. "Only one, but it's a good one!" Tails swerved the plane out of the way as one of the thrashing heads snapped at it.

"I hope so!" Ashura unbuckled himself and jumped up, out of the plane.

Clutching his super-emerald, he stood floating there, collecting energy for his attack. Once he had enough power, he began to curl for a super-charged spin-dash.

"Chaos Powerdrive!" he called out, and he suddenly launched forward. Ashura's spin-dash bored through first one, then another unlucky head, cutting them right off.

Ashura came out of his attack on the beach, landing with a small explosion of sand. The severed hydra heads faded out of existence, an odd phenomenon, but what really dismayed the group of fighters (no longer including Nazo, he was dashing back and forth, catching the hydra's lethal beams in a bowl of chaos energy and crushing them into oblivion.) was that within twenty seconds, the two heads grew back, fully refreshed, with none of the scratches and scorch marks the other seven had sustained.

"Now that's not even fair!" cried Ashura.

Back in Africa, Metal Sonic had been in the middle of toying with the miniature Eclipse Cannon he had just finished building into his right arm. Unfortunately he had to dispose of the weapons previously housed there, but the smaller laser was easily transferred into his left arm, although his ammunition count in mini-missiles was half what it had been.

Metal was about to test how destructive his new weapon was when his head buzzed suddenly, and he fell over, as if he had run out of power.

Metal's optics came online again, and he stood up. Disoriented, Metal Sonic looked around. He seemed to be standing in some giant arena, the floor of which was painted with Mephiles' tattoo. Looking at himself, Metal Sonic saw that he had his old form back, what others had called '_Neo_ Metal Sonic'. Metal was shaken from his joy by the sound of his own footstep coming toward him. Looking up toward the oncoming noise, Metal was stunned to see the version of himself Mephiles had changed him into.

_Domination of your mind and soul._ Metal heard himself think. The other him raised an arm, and Metal Sonic was barley fast enough to dodge out of the way of an incoming Chaos Blast.

"What's going on here? Who are you?" Metal demanded, catching a punch from the dark him.

_The dark him._ Duh. Amusement ran through Metal's mind, and finally, he realized what was going on.

He was the mind and soul of himself, the other him was his programming and desires. If he wanted to stay 'independent' as he claimed he was, he would have to defeat his 'sins'. Grimacing, (mentally, of course he has no mouth.) Metal shoved Evil Him back.

"So you understand. Big deal. You will still bow to me in the end, and I, I shall sit at the right hand of Mephiles, god of all creation!" Evil Him proclaimed. Metal, although incomplete, was still quite capable inside his own head.

"I beat you once before, and I'll do it again!" Metal crossed his arms, boldly making no attempt to defense, announcing his confidence.

"Ah, but this time it will be permanent. One of us will be shown as the true Metal Sonic. And we both already know that it's ME!" Evil Him jumped for Metal Sonic, who ducked down at the knees, arching himself there at a 90-degree angle. Metal Sonic pounded the dark version of himself in the torso as he passed harmlessly over Metal's head.

Metal jolted back up and pivoted around, narrowly dancing away from a string of mini-missiles.

_If he can use such weapons, so can I._ Metal returned fire with his own Chaos Blast, catching Evil Him off guard and sending the dark robot into the wall.

Metal Sonic knew his own speed, so he wasted no time in pumping out a string of missiles as he lunged in for a barrage of melee.

Metal Sonic spin-jumped toward the pinned Evil Him, but was just slow enough for the dark Metal Sonic to slide down from the wall and avoid getting his head kicked in.

Dark Metal Sonic grabbed Metal's leg, and pulled him down, crashing him into the floor.

Metal's sight had a flicker of static as he hit the ground, but he was otherwise unharmed.

Evil Him extended a hand towards the open ceiling and threw back his head.

"Mephiles grant me power!" he called, and a lance of black fire came in through the ceiling and enveloped Evil Him.

The extended hand curled into a fist, a fist that would shatter Metal and he would be Mephiles' slave for eternity.

Thinking as fast as he could, (all other computers in existence bowed in respect at this speed) Metal calculated that he had control of his memories, Evil Him seemed only to care about Mephiles.

Suddenly the scene around them changed, and they were high in the sky, higher than the clouds.

A distance away was three small, sparkling objects swarming around an all too familiar sight.

Metal Overlord.

Evil Him's hand went limp, his gaze fixed on the fake battle before his uncomprehending eyes.

At first he said nothing, and only recalled sounds were heard, but then Metal's memories brought up a part where Metal Overlord was at the advantage, he caught up Knuckles in a thick crystal casing, and began to even the odds some more.

Evil Him turned fully away from Metal Sonic, and brought his fists up before his chest.

"Yes! At long last! The fall of Sonic the Hedgehog! All these years I've hated you Sonic, and never have I been able to defeat you!" Metal Overlord now had Tails trapped, and Metal Sonic allowed Evil Him's desires of victory to change the story – just a bit.

Evil Him was shaking now, so overcome by this victory he was experiencing that would never come to pass.

"Do you fear me now, Sonic? Do you! Behold what I have become! I have outdone you to the utmost! I am the ultimate machine! I will rule the universe! I will – Ulgh!"

The scene snapped back to the arena, Evil Hims' eyes went wide. (in other words, the red discs took up the entire eye area.)

Metal Sonic stood close behind him, a sword made of Chaos Energy in his hand, impaling Evil Him.

"You will bow to _me!_ The past is done! I have grown out of my childish obsession of victory over Sonic. I have the wisdom to see Mephiles for what he is! A fool!"

Metal ripped the sword from Evil Him's back, and banished the power for later use. Evil Him staggered forward, then slowly turned around. He began to walk towards Metal Sonic, but fell to the floor pathetically in two steps.

"All I wanted was to win!" Metal never new he could cry, but as he watched, Evil Him turned into a fleshly version of himself, handsome and comely, but utterly defeated.

"All I wanted…All I wanted…" The croaking, sobbing hedgehog continued on, and for once in his life, Metal felt sorrow. Sorrow for himself.

He bent down and laid his hand on the hedgehog's head. "What is your name?" The dying hedgehog looked up, his face pale from loss of blood and drawn with tears.

"I'm desire. Who are you?" Metal stroked the hedgehog's quills, knowing that his evil desires and soul-biting programming were gone.

"You can call me soul." Metal said plainly. The hedgehog blinked a few times, then grimaced suddenly as his hand went to the lethal wound in his chest.

Metal rolled the organic him onto its back, and placed his hand over the hole. The hedgehog stopped choking and sobbing, drifting off to sleep. When Metal removed his hand, there was no trace of the wound.

Metal was overcome by a profound sense of freedom, freedom to do whatever he wanted to and have no worry that he was owned by anyone or anything. The giant tattoo that decorated the floor disappeared, and the walls around him crumbled.

The vast world of Metal's mind had been overcast by clouds, but now a light broke through them.

There was no clear source of the light, it was as if the mental picture of the sky _was_ the source of the light.

Metal looked back to organic him, and the body slowly faded into sparkles of light, light that washed over Metal Sonic.

Metal stood and looked at himself once more. His new residual form was very similar to 'desire' as it had called itself. He was a tall royal blue hedgehog, adorned in darker blue armor.

Metal willed a mirror to appear, and so there was a mirror before him. Seeing this version of himself was both shocking and infatuating for Metal. What would go back to being his head in real life was now simply a helmet, upon taking it off he saw his quills were still styled after his head in reality. His eyes were bright and young, the irises a deep crimson. Metal touched his face with his gauntleted hand and felt the metal upon his cheek.

Metal smiled at the picture, showing that he had neat, clean teeth, though they all were sharpened like eyeteeth.

Metal was about to run his hand through his hair when suddenly, he woke up.

The forest canopy above him flicked into view, and he laid a moment, wondering what just happened. Memory flooded into him, and he bolted upright. (at a speed even Sonic would be impressed with!) Metal looked at his torso, and was overjoyed to find it blue again!

He snapped up to his feet, fondly holding the drape that was again around his waist. By that alone, Metal knew that he had shaken off Mephiles' hold on him. Mention of Mephiles put Metal Sonic's joy to a quick end, and he looked at his right wrist.

"I stole the plans to the Eclipse Cannon." He said, though no one was around to hear his voice.

"But perhaps I can use this for my repentance?" Metal held his right arm up before his sight.

Metal's long-range radar was picking up seismic activity in one of the harbors on the east coast of the U.S. He also picked up tremendous amounts of Chaos Energy.

"Nazo!" he gasped. The jets in his legs popped out, and he rocketed off into the sky, arcing towards the coast and accelerating to the speed of sound.


	20. Chaos Vs Order Episode 20

Episode 20: Metal's 'rescue' and Omega's demand

Nazo dashed across the beach again, catching yet another blast from the hydra, but in doing so, missed another beam that leveled several nearby buildings.

Nazo had missed fourteen of the hydra's deadly breath attacks, and the seaport was paying for it. Knuckles seemed to be the only other one who could hurt the thing, albeit Ashura had cut off two heads, but they grew back. Tails had flown the small plane away to his house on a nearby island and returned with his more advanced jet, the Xcyclone.

Tails had been giving the hydra dive attacks since then, riddling the many heads with bullets, but that was practically useless. Nazo would have himself been fighting the hydra, but if he stopped blocking as many of these attacks as he could, there wouldn't be much of a city left to protect…

Ashura landed on the beach yet again, breathing heavily. No matter how hard he hit the thing, he couldn't hurt it! It was like it had adapted to him or something. Looking over, he saw that Knuckles was having no such problem, his attacks were too powerful to become accustomed to. Unfortunately, most of the damage Knuckles dealt the hydra healed quickly, so they had only brought about minor injuries.

Ashura looked at his Super Emerald, vainly hoping he would find an answer within. Much to his surprise, he did.

Ashura quickly pulled out Sonic's red Super-Emerald – he had taken it for safekeeping when Sonic collapsed – and grinned.

"Nazo, are these strong enough to make me go super?" he yelled up. Nazo grunted something, but Ashura didn't catch it. Seeing no response, Nazo sent him his answer mentally.

_One of those could make you go super, so by all means, do it!_ Ashura held the two in his hands, and began to concentrate on the energy within.

Ashura felt his pulse quicken, his muscles growing stronger, and an immense power surging into him.

The super emeralds faded into him, seeming to become part of him as he bonded with their power.

Ashura's eyes snapped open as he jumped to his feet, and his fur flared up with the fire of chaos.

Nazo smiled, having Ashura attack the hydra while in his double-super form (he's not powerful enough for it to be hyper-form) would make his job easier, perhaps eliminate the hydra's assault on the city altogether, enabling him to take the offensive.

Ashura's glowing form attracted two of the hydra's heads. The two heads lunged at him, seeking to crush the miniscule hedgehog between their jaws.

Ashura had other ideas, though. He dodged past the heads with ease, and sent a cluster of chaos spears into the hydra's body. All nine throats bellowed in pain, and all of the hydra's attention was turned to Ashura.

Nazo flew over to his side, the fire bathing him more bright that Ashura's. "I'd say you found it's weakness, friend!" Nazo said. The two had to zip to each side as the hydra blasted their direction with all nine heads. Thankfully, the two of them had been at an angle away from Station Square, so the powerful attack surged off harmlessly into the ocean.

Instead of tracking Nazo, who was more of a threat, the hydra turned to keep Ashura in it's multi-headed view.

"I think it wants to get back at me!" Ashura yelled, his voice barley carrying through the roars of the hydra to Nazo.

"If it keeps it's attention on you, then I can tear it apart from behind!" Nazo called back.

Down on the beach, Knuckles felt somewhat useless now. Tails must have had a similar feeling, because he landed the Xcyclone down near Knuckles.

Knuckles ran over to the plane, expecting to get told that they should probably leave the fighting up to Nazo and Ashura now, and had his agreement already prepared.

So he was justifiably unprepared when that's not what Tails said.

"Knuckles! You're not going to believe this! The radar is picking up an incoming airborne object traveling at sonic speeds!" Knuckles pulled himself up into the plane and glanced at the radar, not that he could read it that well.

"What's so special about that?" he asked. Tails opened his mouth to answer, but a small rocket-like object soared overhead and stopped directly above the hydra.

Not too far behind it was an earth-shattering boom. Tails gulped. "What's so special is that um, that's Metal Sonic." Knuckles jaw dropped, and he looked back up to the sky in disbelief.

But sure enough, the form of the robotic hedgehog became clearer as he fell toward the beach.

Metal was falling head-first, but he quickly flipped over and blasted his jets on when he reached 100 feet above ground.

Metal landed with quite a bit of momentum, but only enough to make a stylish entrance.

Metal's voice cranked all the way up, enough so that half the city could hear him. "This creature is a warrior! You can't defeat a warrior by attacking it's body! YOU MUST ATTACK ITS HEART!" Metal's arm had been leveled at where the hydra's heart was, and now his right arm opened up to reveal the small Eclipse Cannon hidden there. Metal fired the weapon, and was nearly knocked backward by the force of it.

The green beam soared through the air and pierced through the chest of the hydra. The creature's heads reared back in pain as the beam came out through the hydra's back.

No blood spilled through the hole, the wound was cauterized as it was made. The hydra's heads kept thrashing about wildly until it lay still upon the shore, a mass of flesh that would take quite an effort on nature's part to decompose it.

Metal's power supply dropped to 43%, and he fell to one knee, remaining there only because his limbs would bend no more.

Ashura stared open-mouthed at the remains of the dead hydra. "No way. Now freakin' way he just did that." Nazo chuckled coming up beside him. "Why not? What's wrong with getting some help?" Nazo descended towards Metal Sonic, leaving an uptight Ashura behind.

Nazo landed in front of Metal, who looked up to meet his gaze.

"Ha. I just outdid a super form _and_ a keeper." With that, Metal's eyes flicked out. Ashura came down and powered down. "What was that all about?" He asked. Knuckles and Tails arrived next to the dormant body of Metal Sonic as well. Both them and Ashura looked to Nazo for some explanation.

"I thought he went back to being the bad guy." Tails said as he looked at Metal. Nazo bent down and stared into the offline optical sensors of Metal Sonic.

"Not anymore. I think Metal has finally found himself. Haven't you Metal?" Nazo asked as he put his hand under Metal's chin, raising the robot's head to look directly at him.

Ever so slowly, a thin metal sheet closed over one half of Metal Sonic's eyepiece, and then slid back up, crudely imitating a wink.

Smiling, Nazo stood. "What was that?" Knuckles asked, coming around Metal to see the robot's face. Nazo motioned to the Xcyclone. "He doesn't have enough power to remain fully active, only his crucial systems are online. Why don't you take him back to your workshop and 'rejuvenate' him?" Tails nodded, and Knuckles hefted Metal's body into the plane. Tails and Ashura climbed in, and Tails prepped for take-off.

"When he wakes up, he'll explain everything to you." Nazo said. Tails nodded as he closed the canopy. As the plane began to lift off, Nazo Chaos-controlled back to Angel Island, where he would wait for Mephiles' next strike.

Jesse sat in the classic interrogation room; one table, two chairs, hanging lamp overhead, one camera in the corner, one door. Omega had demanded to see the proof of Jesse's accusation; he provided proof otherwise. Normally prisoners do not get tips from their retainers, but Omega had told him that he was getting President Michael to sign Jesse's release. Jesse knew what he would do if Omega failed to acquire said document.

Fortunately for him, he wasn't likely to have to resort to it. The doorknob clicked, and the steel door opened quietly. Three Secret Service agents walked into the room, posting themselves on the walls behind and on each side of Jesse.

Next in came the vice President, A man named Craig Gilead. The V.P. sat down in the other chair and stared at Jesse for a moment.

"How do you feel, Mr. O'Brien?" Jesse gave no hint to his emotions, but flatly answered "Cold." Craig huffed, the kind of huff that indicates a one-note inside laugh.

"I could either have you freed or condemned as I'm sure you're aware Mr. O'Brien." When Jesse made no response of any kind, the V.P. continued.

"You've been accused with a particularly sensitive crime. Your robot friend has put up evidence of your innocence, but I was never aware of anything called 'human chaos'. Nor does the G.U.N. Mainframe indicate any such program. Do you realize what position you are in here?" the side of Jesse's mouth quirked, forming a half smirk, half pucker on his face.

"I'm in a position where you're not the go-to guy. I'm in a position where the big guys up top are doing everything they can to put me away before the president has no choice but to admit what happened. I'm in a position-" Jesse leaned forward. "Where only _I_ can choose the outcome, and no one else can see that." Jesse sat back to his casual posture, as if he had never said anything.

The three agents around the room exchanged looks, but nothing more. Two minutes later, which were filled with Craig just staring at Jesse blankly, as if he was trying to figure out what to do with him.

The sound of a large mass moving along on metal feet started from the end of the hall outside and slowly became louder until the source of the noise was right outside the door, where it stopped.

The V.P. sighed and stood. "You're not in control here, Mr. O'Brien, _we_ are. Cheerio." The man opened the door again, and to his surprise, Omega had with him the president.

"Mr. President?" Craig stuttered, suddenly unsure of how much in control he really was.

"What are you doing here?" Michael looked up at Omega and sighed. "Only my duty, Craig, only my duty." Michael motioned at Jesse.

"Release him." Craig's mouth dropped in shock. "You mean you're…b-but he's…the records, they…" Michael's face twisted, some inner memory stabbing his heart.

"Are incomplete! Now stop acting like a two-year-old and get the heck back to things that actually matter!" Craig disappeared down the hall so fast Jesse almost laughed.

Jesse walked out of the small room and nodded at each of the other two in turn. "Omega, Mr. President." Jesse began to walk down the hall, but Michael grabbed his arm.

"Jesse, I'm sorry any of this happened. The G.U.N., they…they didn't want me to get involved with what they were deeming 'inner affairs'." Jesse nodded. Michael sighed again, making for a record of most sighs in two minutes in Omega's head.

"Meet me in the oval office tomorrow, I have something I'd like to discuss." Jesse smiled, and would have put his hand on Michael's shoulder, had it not been for the fact that the 3 S.S. agents behind him would cut him apart first.

"Sure. When tomorrow?" Michael shook his head. "It doesn't matter, as long as you get there." Jesse was walked down the hall with the three secret service agents, leaving Michael and Omega next to the still-open door.

The president turned the other way and walked toward the elevator, motioning for Omega to follow.

"You are aware of my requirements?" Omega asked as he came abreast the president. Michael nodded. Omega re-stated anyway, just in case anything had been forgotten.

"Jesse O'Brien is to be given a full pardon, and all data tying him to G.U.N. eliminated. He is to be given special recognition among your 'Brothers of Adversity'."

Michael's 'Brothers of Adversity' was his particularly secret group of body guards, the people who "don't exist". They were the highest trained people in the United States, every one of them very much a one-man army. Omega was the only person besides the presidential cabinet and the brothers themselves who knew of their existence.

Michael patted Omega's massive arm. "Yes, I know, I know."

The following morning at 9:30 AM, Jesse sat in the lobby of the White House patiently waiting for the clerk to return and tell him that the President would see him now. As if on cue from his thoughts, the clerk came back just as he thought that.

"The president will see you now, Mr. O'Brien." Jesse rose from the chair, looking toward the clerk, but his attention was going around the room, making sure he was somewhat safe. Not that you could be somewhat safe in the White House, an entire legion of men with guns occupied the area. Walking at an even pace, Jesse moved down the hall and toward the oval office as the clerk directed him. Upon reaching the polished cherry wood doors of the office, the clerk left him.

Bracing for anything from being told he was now secretary of defense to having a gun pointed in his face, Jesse pushed open the doors.

Good thing he prepared himself.

As soon as the door was open, he was pulled in and a knife came down at his throat, and would have cut right through his windpipe had he not Chaos-controlled to stand atop the president's desk, leaving the men behind him… they started clapping.

President Michael sat at his desk looking up at Jesse, who was staring at him perplexed.

"What in God's name is going on?" The president stood, and walked around the desk, so that Jesse would track him.

All around the room were men who looked like they could be sitting in amongst an army of Eggman's robots and just laugh at the attempts to kill them.

"Who are they?" Jesse asked, jumping off the desk. Michael waved his hand around the room, indicating all those before him.

"These are the Brothers of Adversity. They are my personal group of bodyguards, above and beyond anything the Secret Service gives me. These are the men who take out the assassin before anyone knows there's going to be an attempt." Jesse eyed each of them. If this turned sour, he'd already used a chaos-control, so he didn't have the energy to jump again, and it didn't look like he could take even two of them.

"The point of driving a knife into my throat when I walked in?" Michael slapped him on the shoulder.

"You just proved your innocence, Mr. O'Brien." He indicated a camera in the upper corner of the room. Jesse stared at it dumbly.

"You mean I just.." Michael nodded. "You just proved that you were trained to use chaos energy. Congratulations Jesse, your name has just been cleared." Jesse grabbed his head. _Everything happened so fast…_He thought._ I mean, Only a week ago…_ Jesse looked back to the President.

"If these guys are that important, why'd you show them to me?" Brothers of Adversity exchanged looks of amusement as they openly laughed and grinned.

"You've just been conscripted to a special position among them." Michael said. Jesse blinked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Michael shrugged. "It means I'm offering you a position among them, but you'll keep you're everyday life. Your resume will simply say your with the Secret Service, though." Jesse rubbed his chin, mulling it over.

"Omega came up with this, didn't he?" Jesse asked, a gleam in his eye. The room was again rimmed with quiet laughter. "Of course." Michael said. Jesse smiled, and slapped the President lightly on the back. "Not like I could refuse something that generous. You got yourself a 'conscript', Mr. President!"


	21. Chaos Vs Order Episode 21

Episode 21: Red Canyon's inner madness

Nazo didn't have to wait long before Mephiles made yet another reckless move. Placing a barrier around the Master Emerald, just in case, Nazo jumped up and flew out towards the Red Canyons.

Upon reaching his destination, Nazo saw far below him one of Eggman's trains under attack by a group of small, fluttering objects that spewed the same purple fire they were composed of at the train's wheels, trying to gum it in place.

Nazo swooped down and make quick work of the little phoenixes, eliminating each of them with an orb of chaos energy.

Nazo landed on the train – which was still remarkably fast for having half-melted wheels – and walked to the front. Looking over the edge, Nazo could see dozens more of similar rails, with similar skirmishes. Most of the trains were either armed or guarded by Robots standing atop them, but Mephiles' diverse groups of creatures would eventually get the better of them. Nazo formed a large white orb of chaos in his hand, and pointed towards the fleets of flying abominations below him with his other.

"Seek out the darkness and illuminate it." He commanded, and the orb depleted into hundreds of smaller orbs, each of which homed in on one of Mephiles' creatures in turn.

Smiling at his handiwork, Nazo jumped up, allowing the train to pass beneath him, and descended towards the ground.

The ground – and the airspace within 200 feet of it – was densely populated with Eggman's dreadnaughts and small dragon-like creatures, each of which belched out fireballs. The odd thing was, they weren't like Mephiles' other beasts. These ones had a slick, scaly hide and coloration of animals one could expect in a canyon. They appeared to be rather natural creatures, not freak manifestations of the crazed being's power.

Nazo twisted his body as a stray missile came shooting by him, the rocket missing him by inches. Nazo reached out and grabbed two of the avian's necks and used them to slow his descent.

At fifty feet, Nazo let go of the wyverns, as Nazo had decided to call them, (much to their relief) and dropped down on top of another, driving it into the ground. As soon as the dust cleared, three dreadnaughts leveled their cannons at him.

"I'm not here to fight you. Don't waste your ammunition." Although the dreadnaughts were only semi-intelligent, and they took orders from Eggman alone, the sheer force of Nazo's will convinced them that it was logical to ignore him. Nazo stood, and held his palm out as a fireball collided with it. When Nazo was not destroyed by the attack, the wyvern was both angry and confused. It must have decided to tear Nazo apart with its claws, because it came swooping down at the Keeper with its talons fully extended. Nazo simply brushed the creature to the side when it grabbed at him, sending it head-first into the adjacent rock formation. A dreadnaught finished the job by perforating the wyvern with its heavy machinegun. Nazo looked up as more orbs of chaos energy formed in his hands, tracking a target as he did so. Nazo released the orb covering his right hand, and it arced up and collided with the soft underbelly of an unlucky wyvern. Nazo sighed, a contingent of the dark phoenixes and other things descended into the fray, again tipping things in Mephiles' favor.

Knuckles and Ashura arm-wrestled as they waited for a result from Tails. Knuckles won every time, but Ashura kept going, there wasn't anything better to do. Ashura was in the middle of being beaten again when Tails came rushing up the stairs.

"Knuckles! Ashura! Metal's powered up! C'mon!" Ashura shoved Knuckles arm over while he was distracted.

"Ha! I win!" Knuckles snapped back to Ashura. "Only because I was distracted, so don't go bragging about it!" Ashura just shrugged, his big, devilish smirk still dominating his face.

"C'mon you guys! Let's go already!" Ashura followed Tails immediately, but Knuckles was slower as he shuffled along grumbling.

Down in the lower workshop, Tails had Metal Sonic hooked up to his Super Emerald, connecting to a system of wires that attached to a machine that drew power from the Super Emerald.

Metal shifted his head toward the entrance when they came down, his mechanical eyelids closing and opening again with their camera-click sound. Metal had evolved the eyelids into him to make him appear more real during the time he was in Russia, but he still rarely used them.

Tails walked over to the computer and keyed in the command to cut the power to Metal Sonic. Said robot removed the wires from his chest and head, proceeding to stand when he was finished.

"Alright, let's hear it." Knuckles said flatly. Tails gave an apologetic face to Metal, who simply nodded.

"Don't expect me to act all repentant again, Knuckles. What's done is done." Ashura rolled his eyes.

"Allow me to translate Knucklehead here Metal. Where have you been and what have you been doing?" Knuckles tapped his foot angrily at being called 'knucklehead' by Ashura, the crimson echidna was still not used to Ashura's presence due to his isolationist nature.

"Right after Shadow and I chaos controlled out of area 99 with a man named Jesse-" Ashura and Tails exchanged quick glances. Metal tilted his head a little. "You know him?" Ashura made a dismissing motion with his hand. "A story for another time. Continue." Metal righted his head and spoke again.

"Shadow must have intended to go somewhere else, because when we came out of chaos control he looked rather surprised. We realized that we had been re-directed when Nazo started talking, much to our surprise. I do not recall much of what was said, but Nazo sent the human and me on our separate ways before he got to the point of the matter. I landed in the city, or rather above it, but you know gravity.

After a short re-introduction with the Chaotix, G.U.N. tried to abduct me." Knuckles had not moved, maintaining his withering glare at Metal. Ashura, however, was now seeking out somewhere to recline. Tails seemed to be writing all this down in some document file on his computer, not that Metal really cared. As he had said, what was done was done. There was no reason for him to linger on the past. Awkward then that he be repeating it for the three.

Metal continued, "I defeated them for the most part, but several breaches in my hull sapped at my power levels enough to take me down. When I 'awoke', I was being dissected by G.U.N. scientists, and had acquired an old mindset. I went back to wanting to kill Sonic." The three mobians each gave a little hint of surprise, but not enough to be noticed unless one knew exactly what to look for.

"I decided to take schematics for the Eclipse Cannon, so I headed up into space. Once there, I discovered that Eggman has continued the A.I. program I originate from with a heavily modified version of the larger, hammer wielding Eggpawns. You remember them, right Tails and Knuckles?" The fox and echidna nodded an affirmative, the latter also telling him to resume.

"It called itself Titan, and he seems to be emotionally capable than me. But, to coin a phrase, that is a story for another time. For reasons I do not know, he ran away, allowing me to enter the ARK.

Inside I met the extreme opposite of Nazo, a black and periwinkle hedgehog who called himself-" Knuckles eyes shot open, he had shut them a minute ago.

"Mephiles!" Knuckles fell to his knees and grabbed his head. "I remember now!" Metal did not have a response to this, being that it would have been the last thing to expect.

"You're not going to collapse like Sonic did, are you Knuckles?" Ashura asked, genuine worry on his face. Knuckles face contorted from extreme pain to extreme anger, and he shot to his feet faster than anyone knew he could, suddenly recovered.

"Don't even _imply_ that I can't take something Sonic can't either! That rattle-brained lunatic is lucky he hasn't chopped himself into lunchmeat by now! Never compare me to him again! Never! Got it!" Knuckles was clutching Ashura's collar in his hands, shaking the green hedgehog like a rag doll. Metal took one step forward, stomping loudly.

"Enough Knuckles. You don't need to half-kill someone just because they see something that happened to someone else might happen to you." Knuckles reluctantly let go of Ashura, who decided that he'd be safer on the other side of Tails.

"Whatever, robot. I'm fine by the way, go ahead and finish." Metal Sonic looked towards the other two. Tails shrugged, and Ashura simply rubbed his neck.

"Anyway, yes, Mephiles. He claimed that he was a god, and I argued with him. He made vague explanations using flawed logic to support his claim, but nonetheless, he overpowered and transformed me. I stayed that way for a few days, but I just reclaimed myself yesterday, half an hour or so before I got to the beach with you guys." Metal looked at the disturbed Knuckles, who's attention was elsewhere, thinking about other things.

"What was that thing anyway? I didn't even realize I'd said something until after I fired my junior Eclipse Cannon. What did I say?"

Ashura eyed Metal curiously. _How does one say something like that and not know he's doing it?_ He thought.

"You told us to defeat a warrior, we must attack its heart. Then you blasted the thing's heart out." Metal looked to the floor.

"It's disconcerting to not know what you're saying, or even that you're saying it." Knuckles stood up and headed for the stairs.

"Tails, bring Metalhead and let's get to the plane. The Red Canyons are under attack, remember?" Metal turned to the fox kit for explanation, but Tails only sighed and motioned for him to follow.

"Something Nazo found out. We're going to need you out there too, Metal, since Sonic's down for the count."

Knuckles, Ashura, Tails, and Metal Sonic emerged from the house and headed for the plane. Metal came abreast with Tails. "What happened to Sonic?" he asked. Tails' ears drooped at the question.

"We still aren't sure. When Nazo gave us the Super Emeralds, he told us that you had been with Mephiles. When he said that, Sonic had a seizure." Metal nodded. Tails had told him about the Super Emeralds while he plugged the robot into one. What he didn't get was how Sonic could have a seizure at the mention of Mephiles. Knuckles had a similar reaction, and wasn't exactly himself since.

_A connection, obviously. But what is the connection?_ Metal thought to himself as the four climbed into the plane.

Nazo grabbed the beak of one wyvern as he kicked another, breaking its neck. Nazo sharply twisted the beak of the wyvern he held, and its struggles ceased. The Keeper hurled the body into the air, where it collided with one of the others, obscuring its view.

The ground under Nazo's feet exploded as a dark phoenix went kamikaze into him. Nazo caught himself in mid-air, righting his body to a right-side up position. Dreadnaughts on the ground filled the sky with calculated anti-aircraft attacks, avoiding their flying comrades with mechanic precision. The wyverns were beginning to deplete in number, but were constantly being reinforced by the ever-appearing dark phoenixes.

Nazo would simply obliterate everything in the canyon, but getting Eggman to agree to his petition would be best done if he wasn't going around blasting whole groups of Eggman's prized troops.

Nazo added to the scores of bullets with volleys of his own chaos attacks. Although he was doing tremendous damage to the numbers of Mephiles' forces, more kept coming, and he could see other areas faring worse than here. Nazo darted up, searing clean through multiple wyverns, and began powering up a final attack.

Nazo looked for the dreadnaught that was apparently in charge of the company. Upon finding it, Nazo ordered it to get his troops away, using his superior willpower to acquire the robot's obedience.

Once the dreadnaughts were clear, Nazo unleashed his power on the unfortunate mass of Wyverns and dark phoenixes.

"CHAOS BLAST!" a blinding white light radiated from Nazo, enveloping the entire canyon.

When the light subsided, not even the rock formations had survived Nazo's wrath.

Although the Xtornado and the Xcyclone were Tails' pet projects, their sensory systems were still far inferior to Metal Sonic's impossibly advanced systems.

_Impossible being a good way to put it,_ Metal added to his train of thought,_ Eggman's new machine isn't really so much, being that he has made the technological advances needed to create that Titan character. I, on the other hand,_ He thought grimly,_ I was on of those _"I don't know how I did it, I just did."_ things._

Metal's thoughts were sharply dragged back to why he was thinking of his systems compared to the Xcyclone's when Tails reported a large detection of Chaos energy.

"I'm also picking up massive amounts of dreadnaughts in the area!" Metal looked out the windows, followed by Ashura and Knuckles.

"Do you see that?" Ashura exclaimed, vainly trying to push his face through the glass. Knuckles shot him an annoyed look, the word "Duh" prevailing his features.

Metal Sonic ignored them; he was intent on the core of the fading sphere. Indeed, Nazo was at the center. To the south of him was a receding army of dreadnaughts, though they did not seem to be fleeing, just marching away. _Odd…_ Metal thought.

"Tails, land us down there." Metal pointed to a runway at the opening in one of the train stations, one of such trains was being loaded up with cargo and Eggpawns as Metal pointed. Knuckles sighed.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

Two hundred Eggpawns, one hundred fifty-four turrets later, Metal Sonic stood in front of Knuckles, shaking scrap from his hands.

"Now, what were you having a bad feeling about?" he asked cheerily. Tails and Ashura were across a set of tracks from them, rigging the tracks to stop the next train. Tails had sent the Xcyclone home; he could not afford Eggman to find him flying around here. Anyway, the idea was to get the train to stop, jump on board and hijack it. This had been Metal's idea, since he knew the area better than the Sonic Heroes, even though they had beaten him here all that time ago.

In response to his question, Knuckles simply grumbled and turned away. Tails called and waved to them.

"Here comes one!" Knuckles came abreast Metal, rubbing his hands together. They could see it from here, the familiar red train with the spikes on the upper portion. Only now, instead of burning chimneys on top, there were double-barreled gun turrets.

The train came roaring down the tracks and was caught suddenly in their trap. Much stronger than when he had been when it was first used, Metal was able to blow a hole in the train with his small Eclipse Cannon and remain standing, though his eyes did not shine quite as bright.

The three mobians and one robo-look-alike piled in and made short work of the particularly surprised robots inside.

"Now to get this thing moving again." Metal spoke absently as he kneeled before the main computer.

"How are you going to do it?" Ashura asked. Metal proceeded to pull a wire from the back of his head and plug it into the computer. (isn't it convenient to have a robot who has just the right socket for _everything_?) Metal's eyes flicked out, along with the data flow on the main screen. The head and neck of a tall, handsomely built blue hedgehog replaced the data flow, with white arrowhead streaks in his quills, red eyes, and a strong set jaw.

"Metal?" Knuckles asked as he looked from the robot's empty case to the screen. "I'm in control of the systems now, so you could almost say that I _am_ the train now."

Tails stared in amazement. "Whoa." Metal's fleshly face looked down to center on Tails.

"What?" Tails shook his head. "I never pictured you like that." Metal's digital visage shrugged. "Neither did I, until recently. Anyway, I'll be in control of speed and the turrets. The only concern is how far we need to go, and what we do if the train takes critical damage." Tails made a dismissive motion with his hand.

"We've been here before. We'll just grind on the railing if the train goes crit. As to how far, try to take us in circles so we can rout as many bad guys as we can. After that, get us as close to Nazo as you can." Metal nodded, then his visage turned around. The world around the visage looked like something out of Tron, but the train's controls were still recognizable.

The train jerked into motion, and continued on its way.

Nazo dropped down to the ground after the blast had subsided, landing softly on one knee. The Keeper looked about him, sensing with a pang of guilt the price for the victory he just won. The canyon he stood at the bottom of had originally been somewhat linear, but now this part was carved out like a ball. Death was also on the air, not the deaths of his foes, but of all the little animals who had lived here.

Nazo sighed, one of his brother's favorite lines coming to his mind; _In victory, there's always a sacrifice of what we hold dear._ For Grond, that was usually power, but for Nazo it was life.

Nazo put thoughts of his siblings from his mind; they could not help him here. Nazo began walking towards where the group of dreadnaughts had gone. As he walked, his thoughts wandered to the real origins of Mephiles. The crazed hedgehog claimed to be a god, and at least had shown on one occasion that he could out-smart Nazo, but little that proved; Nazo was not a god.

So caught up in his thoughts was he that he did not notice Mephiles standing to his right, gazing at him intently as he walked by.

"One would think I should get more attention." Mephiles stated. Nazo stopped dead in his tracks, his spine going rigid, and his fire increasing two-fold.

"Oh, that happy to see me?" The dark hedgehog took a step towards Nazo. Nazo still said nothing, but a grin had spread across his face, hidden from Mephiles. The black and periwinkle hedgehog took yet another step, and began to reach out to Nazo; seeking to grasp his shoulder.

Mephiles' hand began to come down upon Nazo's shoulder, just above the fire…

And Nazo sprang.

The Keeper whipped around so fast that his cape kept going after he stopped, covering his left arm. Not that that mattered, Nazo's right fist had been firmly planted in Mephiles' stomach, where five circle-shaped scars were. Mephiles was sent sprawling onto his back, scrambling to rise. Before he could, though, Nazo was standing atop him, one foot on his throat, hands on hips.

"One of the worst mistakes one can make, Mephiles," Nazo leaned down, further crushing Mephiles' windpipe.

"Is showing me how you fight, then letting me fight you ever again." Nazo put massive force into a stomping motion, totally flattening Mephiles' throat.

As expected, Mephiles form retreated into smoke, reshaping behind Nazo. Mephiles was no sooner back in his corporeal state than Nazo's foot was in his face. Before Mephiles had finished staggering backward, Nazo was behind him, hand against back.

"Be gone." The Keeper ordered. A familiar green light welled from under Nazo's hand, and an orb of chaos began burning against Mephiles. The orb exploded, leaving a hole in Mephiles' form.

The dark hedgehog laid face-first in the dust, slowly receding into smoke. "I know I can't kill you here," Nazo whispered into the body's ear. "But the time will come when you find yourself 'too powerful' to keep floating off like this. And when that day comes…" Nazo punctuated his meaning with a chaos spear into the base of Mephiles' skull. The body exploded into smoke, smoke that could not get away from Nazo fast enough.

The Keeper laughed to himself, Mephiles just proved to himself that he was indeed mortal.


	22. Chaos Vs Order Episode 22

Episode 22: He Woke Up? Finally!

Volt The Porcupine walked along the street, holding the hand of Cream, who was holding the hand of Amy, who was holding the hand of cheese on the other side. Valerie walked alongside Amy, and the two of them were chatting happily. Behind them was Emerel, Big behind him. Emerel stood directly behind Cream, but Big covered the entire space behind them.

They were walking down the street towards a shoe-shop, when they saw a man run out of the store they were heading to, carrying a purse and running like heck. A woman popped out a second later yelling, "That's my purse! Thief!" Volt's adventurous nature kicked in, and he began to dash after the man. Amy caught him by the shoulder though, and fixed him with a stern glance while pulling out her hammer.

"I'll deal with this one, Volt." Any ran off after the man, easily catching up. The pink hedgehog used her hammer's handle to trip the thief, and proceeded to hold him down with her hammer's head until the woman came and retrieved her purse.

"Thank you, young lady. I don't know what I would have done without you." She reached into her purse and removed a billfold. The lady gave Amy $20 as reward for her help, then continued on her way.

Volt caught a quiet huff from Valerie, dripping with envy. The orange porcupine smiled, he knew how she felt.

Amy returned to the group, and taking hold of Cream's hand again, the continued to walk towards the shoe-shop.

After being in the stuffy building for five minutes, Volt decided to wait outside with Big. Upon reaching the sunlight, Volt smiled as he closed his eyes and just basked in the sunlight. Volt would never see it, but Big smiled too, the little porcupine was just like the two older hedgehogs.

Volt, after coming back to reality, jumped up on Big's shoulder. "Hey Big?" the cat's response came in the scratching of an ear.

"why do hang out with Froggy so much?" The giant purple cat's head swiveled to face Volt, the large yellow eyes fixing on him.

"Froggy is my friend." Volt sighed a little. "Why is Froggy your friend? How did you meet him?" Big's forehead wrinkled, the cat was trying hard to remember.

"I don't remember. He was just, there one day." Big shrugged. At that moment, Amy, cream and Valerie all exited the store. Coming behind them, (and carrying all the bags) Emerel came, his silent guarding of Cream never ceasing.

No sooner than they had started walking again, Valerie's phone stared ringing. Valerie put the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?" she moved the phone away for a moment. "It's Ashura!" "Where are you? You're breaking up." "You're WHERE!" The rest of the group began to look concerned. Valerie plugged her other ear with her finger, listening to Ashura with growing alarm.

"You crashed a train! Are you all right?" Big and Emerel exchanged looks, behind everyone.

Big tapped Valerie on the shoulder. "Where are they?" his slow methodical voice pondered, making him sound the innocent of innocents.

"He said they're in the Red Canyon zone." No sooner had the words exited her mouth, Emerel launched off into airspace, arcing his ascent in the direction of the Red Canyons.

Everyone present was taken by surprise, all except Big. The giant cat grabbed Cream and Volt, placing them on his broad shoulders. He instructed the older girls to walk and talk, and began briskly heading back towards the ThorneDyke mansion, where he could find Chuck, the only other who could fly one of Tails' planes. After Valerie hung up the phone, she turned to Big, who was still keeping them going.

"What's going on, Big? What are you so concerned with?" Big looked down at her, and the vacant stare in his eyes was gone.

"The safety of my friends."

Knuckles stood with his legs wide and his hands outstretched, a shield made of Chaos energy behind him.

"Leave it to _you_ to crash a train that, may I remind you, sort of _was_ you!" The echidna snarled at the robot behind him.

Metal Sonic was holding up another shield, Ashura and Tails huddling in the middle. The train Metal had been driving was crashed into a thousand pieces on the ground twenty feet from them.

"It's not my fault the track vanished under us! I wasn't the one who blew it up!" Knuckles grimaced. "Well last time we were here, you _were_ the one blowing things up out from under us!" Metal Sonic swiveled his head to face knuckles better.

"I was the bad guy then!"

On the other side of the shield, multitudes of the wyvern things were assailing the barrier relentlessly. Ashura was on the phone with someone, and Tails was hooking up his Super Emerald to Metal Sonic, so the robot could have power enough to blast out if necessary.

Knuckles grimly but his concentration back on the shield. The creatures were bombarding it with tooth and nail, fireball and kamikaze. Their shield was holding well, Knuckles felt no fatigue yet, and Metal Sonic's eyes were still glimmering powerfully.

After Ashura hung up his phone, he saw Tails holding his super emerald, and thoughts went back to the two he held.

Knuckles, Metal! I'm going super! Before either could protest, Ashura began calling upon the power stored inside the shining gems.

Before enough power was in him to even make him giddy, white light surrounded their shield and obliterated any need for attack. The light festered on the shield, seeming to want to absorb it, but instead withdrew as if a reverse flood. Metal and Knuckles lowered their shields, the danger gone. Tails put his emerald away, Ashura following closely behind.

North of them, and seemingly the source of the explosion, was an all-too familiar figure.

Desert tan, two bulbous blue eyes, three spikes protruding back, foreshadowing their successor.

"Emerel?" Metal Sonic asked, his synthetic voice sounding strangled. Said robot simply crossed his arms and nodded.

"What are you doing out here? Is Cream with you?" Tails asked hurriedly, looking about. Emerel shook his head in response.

The short robot walked up to them, his gaze lingering particularly long on Metal Sonic.

Metal Sonic returned the gaze without flinching, his bright, red eyes reading Emerel's body, seeing if the inferior robot was making any attempt at striking at him.

Metal Sonic had been originally programmed with a violently competitive streak towards his companion robots in the alpha A.I. program Eggman had built him in. At the time, this had only included Emerel and G-Emerel. Both mentioned robots undoubtedly had similar programming. Metal Sonic had conquered his, but had Emerel?

Emerel stood in the center of them and pointed in the direction they had seen Nazo in. "I think he wants us to group up with Nazo." Tails said. Emerel made no response for a moment, then abruptly began walking in the direction he had been pointing.

Tails looked pleadingly at Metal, seeking translation. Metal shrugged. "I cannot read his thoughts, and he seems to be unable to speak." Metal looked after the desert tan robot.

"But what harm would it do to find Nazo?" Knuckles and Ashura shrugged too, and so the four followed Emerel.

Nazo turned, seeing Emerel walking up on him. The keeper turned to face him. Emerel walked straight up to Nazo and fell promptly to one knee.

Nazo crouched down, his forearms resting on his knees. "No need to bow, Emerel. Stand up." Emerel stood, stared a minute, then turned to the four coming up behind him.

Emerel looked back to Nazo, who nodded. The desert-tan body of Emerel jerked as the boot-jets kicked in, and sent the little robot careening into the skies.

The three mobians and one robot walked up to Nazo, Tails and Ashura looking up. "What was that all about?" Knuckles asked. Nazo stood back up, adjusting the clasp to his cape.

"I was preoccupied, so he came to your aid. He won't stay from Cream that long, so he left you with me."

Metal looked back through the hazy landscape and saw the wreck of the train. "I don't suppose you could whisk us off somewhere cooler?"

Volt stretched out on the couch, waiting for Amy or Big to return with news of what happened.

He did not have to wait long, the enormous cat cam into the room only five minutes after he left.

"Amy's going to go see Sonic now," Big said in his slow, methodic voice. "Emerel's back, too. Cream says he went to help our friends." Volt sat straight up. "Did you hear that?" he asked. Big's ears were twitching, and he looked uncomfortable. Obviously he had heard 'that'. It was about mid-evening, the sun was beginning to set.

Volt was beginning to think they had just heard a bird or something when Big's ears suddenly shot straight up, making him look curiously like a cat.

There was a low rumble from deep in Big's throat, and his ears went flat against his head.

Big turned and slowly walked out the front door, looking up. Volt began to get up, but Big waved for him to stay put.

_But you could get hurt, too!_ Volt thought angrily. No one seemed to notice him much, he was able to fit in a little _too_ well.

Big scanned the lower portion of the roof, the noise seemed to have come from there. Noting that several adobe thatches were missing, Big pulled out his fishing rod. Casting his line, he caught the chimney. Hauling himself up onto the roof, Big looked around again. Nothing. Big crept up towards the next section of the roof, and came around a small pillar. What Big saw made his heart skip a beat. Not that his veins and arteries noticed, they were moving too slow with his thickened blood to notice.

Anyway, the thing he saw struck him as a big bat with a crocodile's head. It was peering down a chimney, and had its back turned for the moment. Big removed a lure from his belt, a mace head. As he fastened it to the end of his line, the mace grew two or three times in size.

Carefully, Big coiled his arm back, poised to sling the mace out at the creature. The bat-croc hopped around the other side of the chimney, not noticing Big at first, since he was looking down.

Big hefted his arm, and the mace swung forward. The critter looked up just in time so get a heavy, spiked metal ball in the face, knocking it unconscious.

There was a faint screech, and Big looked toward where it had been. Big's heart skipped a few more beats, enough for him to feel it. There were similar animals on top of almost every house he could see! Grabbing the unconscious bird-lizard/bat-croc thing, Big mad his way back down to the porch. Dropping the thing on the ground, Big slung his fishing pole over his back; he had a feeling it was going to have to be handy.

Volt skittered out the front door, leaning down to see what Big had. "What is it?" he asked, reaching out to touch it. Big sharply pulled his hand back.

"No touching." He said firmly. "Go back inside." Volt did as obeyed, but not before stealing a few more glances at the thing.

Amy Rose walked down the main street towards the hospital Sonic was being kept. The blue hero had been completely comatose for about a week, and Amy was getting concerned. Nothing like this had ever happened to him and his brother assured her there was no family history of seizures.

Amy looked up from the road to gaze at the hospital. She thought of Sonic, lying there lifelessly, totally unresponsive to anything, and she began to cry.

"He's always been such a free spirit," she remarked, "it must be horrible to be trapped inside his head like that…"

Inside the hospital, Sonic lay on his bead, several machines plugged into him. One was an I.V. pumping nutrients into him, another keeping track of his heartbeat and blood pressure.

Such was he when he awoke suddenly. Sonic gasped, his mind finally freed from the tortured explanations Mephiles had been giving over the doom of his world.

At first he was disoriented, not recognizing where he was, then memory flooded back into him.

Sonic sat up rapidly. "I've got to get out there!" he said to himself. At the sound of his voice, an astonished doctor swung the door open.

"Sonic! You're awake!" Sonic was standing on the bed now, detaching wires from his body. The doctor saw him reach for the needle that connected from the I.V. and quickly walked over.

"You'd better let me do that." He said. "Hold still." Very carefully, the doctor removed the needle from Sonic's arm. When he was done, he looked up to face Sonic.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Sonic." The doctor moved around the other side of the bed and began gathering up all the equipment, Sonic wasn't going to need it anymore.

"We couldn't find anything wrong with you, except that you had a seizure for no reason, so feel free to leave. I'll notify the desk." Sonic gave him a thumbs-up and jumped down off the bed.

Dashing out of the room, sonic got to the end of the hall in under a second. "Hmm, do I take the stairs or the elevator? Hmmm… stairs!" Sonic raced down the stairs and into the main lobby. Not stopping, Sonic redirected himself through the front door.

Racing out the front door, Sonic dashed past something pink… _Pink! Amy!_ Skidding to a halt, Sonic turned around and ran back to her.

Amy jumped into his arms and hugged him, squeezing rather hard. "Oh Sonic, you're all right now! That's so good." Awkwardly, Sonic relaxed his arms, letting them fall in a hug around Amy.

"C'mon Amy, you can't think that a little nap was something to be worried over?" Amy looked up, staring into his eyes while a weak smile adorned her face.

The picture of her was captured by Sonic's mind and engrained into his memory forever.

"Hey uh, Amy?" he sniffled. "What?" Sonic loosed himself from her grip a little. "Where's the nearest place I can get a chili dog?"

Shadow gritted his teeth as he punched a slab of metal near him. "That persistent little bastard! I should've just dropped him in the sun!" Shadow had been wandering around after getting rid of Meta Sonic, and found that the wanna-be snuck back in and copied the designs of the Eclipse Cannon, evident by the fact that it had been tampered with.

Shadow skated down to the nearest hangar, the black hedgehog prepped a small shuttle and headed for the planet.

_I'll get those prints back from you, Metal Sonic, and after, I'm going to see if I can install a pain drive! And won't I have a fun time with it!"_


	23. Chaos Vs Order Episode 23

Episode 23: A Brief Reprieve… Except for Metal.

Nazo smiled at Ashura. "You could just 'whisk' yourselves off, you know." Metal looked at the Super Emerald Tails was holding.

"Well, _they_ can, I'll just have to settle for my jets." Nazo outstretched one of his hands and the white Super Emerald appeared.

"Well, perhaps. But now that you're here, and not opposing us, this is yours." Metal began to reach out to take the emerald, but stopped just before touching it.

"No. Not yet it isn't." Nazo raised an eyebrow. Metal retracted his hand and folded his arms.

"I shattered what little trust I may have earned, so I must earn it again. Likewise, I must earn that emerald." Nazo smiled again, a deep, knowing smile. The emerald disappeared.

"Very well, Metal Sonic." Nazo's countenance shifted to a more serious appearance. "Anyway, the immediate threat here is over. Knuckles, you'll be needing to get back to the Master Emerald. Tails and Ashura, Sonic has awoken." Tails and Ashura looked at each other.

"Really?" They said at once. Nazo nodded. Ashura pulled out his super emerald. Tails and him held their respective gems out in front of them.

"Chaos Control!" they shouted together. Metal looked at Knuckles, who had begun to walk over to Nazo.

"I suppose I'll find something to do." He said to no one in particular. Nazo put his hand on Knuckles' shoulder and the two disappeared.

"You will indeed." A familiar voice snarled from behind him. Metal Sonic turned around and found himself face-to-face with The Ultimate Life Form.

"Hi. What do you want?" Shadow jump-kicked him suddenly, sending him sprawling onto his back.

"I want those blueprints out of your head! _NOW!_" Metal's back jet pulsed, righting him.

"A little late for that, Shadow. I've already used them." Shadow's face twisted in rage. Metal jumped and rolled to the side as a Chaos Spear filled the space he had just occupied.

"Why are you upset about me having a copy of the Eclipse Cannon? What does it matter to you?" Shadow leapt at him, and the two went into a melee.

"Because The Professor built the Eclipse Cannon with his own hands!" Metal blocked a punch to his optics, only to get a knee in his forward turbine. Metal reversed his block with a backhand across Shadow's face, following up with a swift kick into Shadow's ribcage.

Shadow backed off of Metal Sonic, holding his torso. The black hedgehog looked for a moment like he was going to cry out in pain, but he suddenly changed to a full fighting stance.

Metal took the time to survey the damage; three broken ribs, one missing tooth. Unfortunately, Shadow was even now healing from those wounds, including growing a new tooth.

Metal was already moving at Shadow by the time the ultimate life form had recovered, dealing two kicks at his elbows. Shadow parried the attack, following through with a chaos-charged fist into Metal Sonic's chin, breaking it wide open.

Metal hit the ground with a thud, but flipped backwards before Shadow could continue his assault.

Before he was even on his feet again, Metal's chin had been fully repaired, melded by his nano-systems.

"You do realize that I can heal more than you can." Metal stated, placing one taloned hand on his chin and stroking as if he had a beard.

"Then I guess I'll just have to wear you down faster." To make his point, Shadow threw three Chaos Spears at the same time, fanning out like a shotgun.

Two of the three deadly bolts exploded in mid air, about two feet in front of Metal, the third changing direction abruptly as if it bounced off of something.

Metal Sonic's raised hand changed from a stopping gesture to an arcing grasp, a green ball of chaos blipping into existence at his palm.

"Chaos Blast!" the wide beam of chaos energy rocketed towards Shadow at the speed of light.

Metal closed the beam to find no trace of Shadow. Whipping around, Metal deftly caught the foot meant to knock him down.

Shadow twisted his body around into a handstand, launching Metal into the air. Shifting onto his back, Shadow closed the heels of his palms together, mirroring the arc of Metal's digits, but with both hands.

A red ball of chaos energy appeared in Shadow's hands, growing in size until it was twice Shadow's size. Shadow released the orb as Metal's body began to fall, rapidly descending as the ball ascended just as fast.

The orb exploded on contact, blasting Metal Sonic into a nearby dune. Shadow back flipped onto his feet, skating over to the dune where Metal had crashed.

Just as Shadow came to a stop, the dune exploded in an expanding wall of chaos energy.

The ultimate life form disappeared in a green haze, reappearing twenty feet in the air. "Chaos Spear!" Metal Sonic likewise launched a spear, the gold and green projectiles meeting and exploding in mid air. Shadow came through the explosion with his knee out and fist pulled back, led by a chaos charge, making him a living meteor.

Metal Sonic jumped backward, his jets propelling him out of the damage zone. Shadow hit the ground with enough force to knock the dust from the walls of the canyon half a mile from them.

The ultimate life form stood only to be knocked to the side by Metal's armored foot, the blunt top of its sneaker-like form cracking his skull.

Shadow dropped into the dirt, and just laid there for a minute. It felt good to stop for a moment, to just catch his breath while he healed.

Oddly enough, Metal Sonic did not follow through while Shadow was down. "Shadow, it's a _gun_. The original was made by a man who died so long ago that hardly anyone remembers him. Why should you have such a problem with me making a new one?"

Shadow lifted himself from the ground, a grimace of anger prevailing on his face. "Because you stole them, for one. You snuck in like a crook and scanned the cannon while no-one was looking." Metal adjusted the gold ring of his right wrist.

"Would you have let me scan it had I come in 'the right way'? would you have even let me in?" _No,_ Shadow thought, _but that's beside the point._

"Not likely. Excusing that, everything on the ARK belongs to _me_. Also, why should I trust you with that kind of power? You've done one hell of a job proving how loyal you are so far." _True enough,_ Metal though grimly. _Pretty much all I've done in my life is betray one person after another._

Metal crossed his arms. "You're not the perfect man either, but that's beside the point. What I'm trying to get across is that what's done is done, and we should just move on."

Shadow adopted a sinister grin. "Agreed." Metal found himself blocking more kicks, punches, knees, and elbows.

"That's not what I meant!" The red eyes in Metal's head burned brightly, enough so that their glow could be seen even in the plain daylight.

Metal returned Shadow's onslaught with an array of parries and counters of his own. Both fighters scored several hits on each other, but neither seemed able to do any real damage, not without it healing or mending right away.

The skirmish continued on for another hour, after which the area was filled with dozens of new craters and scorched from unsuccessful chaos attacks. Finally Shadow stopped, dropping to one knee and panting heavily. Metal Sonic likewise stopped, the glow of his eyes faded considerably, lower than their normal magnitude. Shadow's fur was gummed and disordered by dried blood from many cuts and gashes. Metal Sonic's armor was cracked in several places, dented in plenty more. Several of Metal's offensive systems were down, for instance, he could not open his left wrist and use his mini-rockets or his chaingun. His right wrist though…

Shadow stood shakily, barely making it to his feet. The ultimate life form was for once, unwilling to walk over and finish his foe. The black hedgehog just stood there, breathing heavily and glaring at Metal.

Metal Sonic slowly raised his right arm and leveled it at Shadow. The wrist flowered open, reorganizing into the miniature Eclipse Cannon.

"Don't make me pull the trigger, Shadow." Shadow estimated on how much power Metal Sonic had used up, and the only sensible estimates showed that Metal was indeed able to power one shot for his Eclipse Cannon.

Shadow lowered his head, admitting defeat. Metal Sonic's wrist returned to normal, and the two combatants just stood there.

A dark form materialized between them, the body of the newcomer backlit by the late afternoon sun. Nevertheless, both the distorted shape and the way the person held himself, Metal Sonic had no issues recognizing him.

"You two surprise me. I was sure that you would destroy each other." Mephiles looked to Shadow, then to Metal and back.

"Shadow, you don't know how happy I am to see you in such a state of weakness. Metal Sonic, you be patient, I'll deal with you shortly."

Mephiles turned completely towards Shadow and began walking toward him.

Shadow could not take his eyes off the this mysterious hedgehog. He had this burning sensation in the back of his head, and he pictured it as something trying to bash down a door that led to his mind.

Suddenly whatever it was put a hole in the door, and Shadow's mind's eye was blinded by a flood of images. Images that registered as his memory.

"Mephiles…" he whispered slowly. More of the door came down, and eventually his mind was drowning in memories of the dark hedgehog, the monster Iblis, the god Solaris, Sonic, Omega, and Rouge, everything they and Sonic's group had done in the future.

"Mephiles!" Shadow repeated, but now he snarled out the name as if it was a curse. Mephiles halted for a moment, caught off guard, but he recovered quickly.

"Ah, so you recognize me at last. It was not my will that you remember what you had done, though I suppose it does not matter now, at the end." Mephiles raised a hand and began laughing.

Shadow felt a massive amount of chaos energy gathering together. The ultimate life form closed his eyes, waiting for Mephiles to deal his blow.

"You know what I think Shadow?" Mephiles asked mockingly. "I think – ugh!" Shadow opened his eyes to see a stream of green energy flowing through a hole in Mephiles' chest.

"I think you can take all your godhood crap and shove it up your ass!" Metal Sonic yelled. Mephiles' body twitched and shook, his eyes wide. Shadow heard a sigh, not of death, but of disappointment, and Mephiles' form exploded into smoke, blown away by the wind.

Metal Sonic's eyes brightened for an instant, projecting satisfaction, then he fell promptly to his hands and knees.

Shadow somehow found the energy to move, and he quickly made his way to Metal Sonic.

"I'd say I just saved your life. Shadow." Metal Sonic raised his head to look up at the black hedgehog.

"Perhaps that warrants your trust in me wielding this kind of power?" Shadow huffed, at first dismissing the idea, but then brought it back for more thought.

"I'll pretend I haven't found out yet." Metal put one knee back, allowing him to right his torso.

"And I'll pretend like I haven't half-killed you." Shadow smiled. Not an honest smile, but the kind of smile one uses when forced to help an enemy. A gloved hand was held out to Metal.

The robot grasped the hand, and Shadow helped him up to his feet. The two stared at each other for a moment, trying to decide whether the other was going to attack, and if they should attack first.

"Until next time, Metal Sonic." Shadow said finally. The ultimate life form turned away and skated off to the west, in the direction of the harbor. Metal Sonic stood still for a few more minutes, letting his systems recharge a bit.

Turning northeast – the direction that would take him closer to Angel Island and Tails' workshop/house – and activated his jets.

Jesse watched the news report entitled 'Welcome back, Sonic'. The azure hedgehog had woken and left the hospital the day before. Sonic had gone back to the ThroneDyke's mansion, but had retreated to Tails' house after the estate had been swamped by the paparazzi. As far as the media knew, Sonic still resided on the island with his friend.

Jesse knew better of course, the blue hedgehog was reclining on the sofa next to him. Jesse had officially disappeared, presumably killed by an attack of the dark, mythology based monsters that had appeared recently. The media had swarmed his death, saying that a long-time terrorist had finally met justice.

Jesse turned the television off in disgust. He may have actually been promoted to one of the highest places in the country, but it didn't change his opinion of the cover story.

"You know something Jesse?" Sonic asked, half-opening one eye to peer at him. The sturdy human turned his head to meet Sonic's gaze.

"What?" Sonic stretched, yawning. "I can handle Eggman, I could handle Metal when he was a bad guy, I can handle pretty much anybody who comes my way, but I don't think I'll ever be able to handle the media." Jesse burst out laughing. After his bout was over, he looked sideways at Sonic over his shoulder.

"You and every other hero in all of history since the media." Sonic smirked.

Jesse got up off the chair he was in, turning to leave. They were underneath the White House, where President Michael's 'Brothers of Adversity' resided. There was also a C.I.A. base down here, along with an intelligence uplink belonging to the U.S.M.C.

As he reached the door, he heard Sonic finally get up off the couch and start heading this way. "Don't go leaving me alone underground." Sonic said casually as he walked past Jesse. The tall human shut the door to his rooms behind him, locking them with a retinal key. The two ascended the stairs, passing the rooms of the other men in the President's secret group, finally coming to an elevator that would take them back up into the daylight.

Sonic really didn't like elevators, but it was the only way up, besides digging up into sheer rock. Fidgeting, Sonic tried to take his thoughts off his closed surroundings by thinking over what had occurred while he was out.

The Eggman front was now twice as potent as before, Eggman now controlled most of Europe, a considerable part of northern Africa, and he was moving into Asia as well.

Sonic frowned. How could he put Eggman out of business now that the fat, old dictator was stronger than ever before? There were also increasingly powerful creatures not too different from human mythologies appearing at random all across the planet. Jesse shuffled, catching Sonic's attention. The tall human had a similar scowl across his face, and his fingers were absently tapping his firearm.

The elevator came to a stop, opening to a room in the White House that only qualified personnel were allowed to enter. Jesse and Sonic walked out, the elevator closing behind them. The main door opened as they approached. The two headed towards the back of the capital building, where Jesse would be shipped out to the Norwegian front with the rest of his team.

The azure hedgehog hadn't the need to tell the president that he would be present on European soil soon, likely before Jesse's team and their black-ops support arrived.

Sonic stopped at the edge of the helicopter pad, letting Jesse continue alone. Just as Jesse reached the helicopter and began to climb in, the rest of the secret warriors emerged from the door and quickly covered the distance to the chopper. The pilot started the chopper up, lifting the machine off the ground.

Jesse looked out the side of the chopper and saw Sonic giving him a thumbs-up. Jesse returned the gesture, and the hedgehog was suddenly gone, a trail of dust rising towards the east.


	24. Chaos Vs Order Episode 24

Episode 24: It's the little things…

Titan clomped along the road, traveling openly in territory now under the jurisdiction of the Eggman Empire. He was on his way to Portugal to squash an uprising. The last thing he could have expected was for a group of Militia to jump out of the dirt at him pointing Rocket Propelled Grenades in his face.

"Let me guess, you're going to shoot me with those little toys?" he grumbled, bringing his mace into its extended form.

The group's collective mouths twisted into different faces of amusement. "Yes, we're going to shoot you robot, with these 'toys'." Titan huffed, and continued to walk.

"Open Fire!" the warheads of the grenades popped open and a small crystal appeared, glowing purple. Titan stopped, paralyzed as he was hit from six directions by particle accelerators. The enormous machine tumbled to the ground, unable to move. The group quickly scrambled over to him and began to try to pry him apart.

Titan's systems re-booted with an electronic jerk that exited into the metal tools of his assailants, moving up into their hands.

There were curses all around as 1K of armor and advanced technologies stood up, feeling rather angry.

Titan swung his hand in an arc, backhanding three of the men, snapping their spines and throwing them back. The rest had their small arms out now, and were hammering him with 30. cal rounds. Titan shrugged them off, despite his simulated pain. Rearing around, Titan incinerated the chest cavities of two more with his eyebeams. The final man had stopped shooting and was on his knees begging for mercy.

Titan had none to give.

Bringing his mace down hard on the blubbering human, Titan splattered his body all over the area.

Titan looked around him, surveying the area. There didn't seem to bee any more enemies in the area, so the massive robot moved in to one of the fallen rebels.

Titan reached down and gingerly picked up the particle accelerator the man had dropped and brought it up to his face. The crystal looked like it had been cleverly grown from the metal, with lines of silver leaving the crystal like bloodlines into the rest of the gun.

Opening his chest compartment, Titan deposited the gun for further study. The massive machine spread his feet wide, large skates extending onto the ground, allowing him to make up for lost time.

Fatal sat in the shade of a tree, inspecting the emerald the Keeper had given him. It was a deep royal purple, with an inner light, like a star was trapped inside. Fatal turned it over and over in his hands, looking at each facet with never-aging interest.

Through the translucent gem, Fatal could see the base camp, buzzing with life. Even though it seemed all of humanity was against the doctor, there were plenty of people who came out of the woodwork when Eggman took over.

The human fighters in the camp took immediate superiority over Eggman's robots, using them as shields in battle, then wiping out the opponent when they moved to another target.

Although Fatal found this clever, he didn't like them abusing his forces like that. The navy hedgehog had made this abundantly clear to them, and enforced this rule with severe penalties.

Fatal put the Emerald away and rose to his feet. Another fight had broken out between humans and robots, and he would have to deal with it.

_Again._

Fatal stood in front of the two groups for several minutes, waiting for someone to see him standing there. When no-one did, and the two groups were close to pulling guns on each other, Fatal shot a chaos spear between the groups.

He instantly had all their attentions. "I can't have my armies killing each other, so I must insist that you all keep away from each other." The human officers grumbled and ordered their men back to their tents, as the robots broke ranks and returned to their duties.

Fatal walked back to his tree while shaking his head. _This sucks._ He thought to himself. _Not that much I can do about it though, I put myself here._

Jesse ran out of the camp to meet Tails as he landed; the fax kit had brought the _Steel Icarus_ with him, and Jesse was eager to get it to his quarters before any of the geeks could get their hands on it.

Jesse stood as close as he could to the Xcyclone as it landed, coming forward as soon as it was safe.

Tails waved at him as he popped the hatch, Jesse returning with a salute. The amber fox jumped down from his plane, landing lightly on his toes.

"Hey Jesse, what's up?" Jesse exhaled loudly. "Where do I begin? We've been taking apart Eggman's forces in this area, with help of our super-speedy friend. Our spearhead is cutting rather well." Tails' namesakes twitched a little.

"And with your mecha suit, you'll do even better!" Jesse grinned; Tails had his way of being two steps ahead again.

Jesse looked up to where his suit was sitting and saw that for some reason, Amy Rose was climbing out of the plane. Jesse's grin disappeared.

"What's she doing here?" Jesse pointed at the pink hedgehog. Tails looked back for a moment, then returned his gaze to Jesse.

"She's here to see Sonic. I told her it wasn't a good idea, but… she _does_ have that hammer and all."

Jesse had a feeling that he didn't mean she was capable of defending herself against Eggman's forces, but that the little fox couldn't defend himself from that giant hammer.

Amy strode past them, a look of determination adorning her face. Jesse shook his head and walked toward the Xcyclone to retrieve his suit.

Tails caught up with Amy, walking beside her. "Amy, Jesse said that Sonic's out on the frontlines. You're not going to get to see him in the time that we'll be here, so please don't do anything crazy?" Amy looked down at him.

"I guess I'll just have to stay for a while, then." Tails stopped in his tracks. "Amy, that's the most selfish thing I've heard you say!" Amy just huffed and kept walking.

The pink hedgehog was about to walk right into the camp when Jesse dropped from the sky in front of her, in his mecha suit.

"Sorry Amy, but this is restricted area. Only permitted personnel inside." Amy got some wild look of anger in her eyes, and Jesse thought for a moment she would pull her hammer on him. Not that she could even get to the metal that made up his suit, the shield would stop any physical attack.

Amy's wild look got wilder, and then she _did_ pull out her hammer. "Then you'd better tell me where Sonic is!" Jesse crossed his arms, the shield scraping against itself making a spectacular show in front of him.

"Amy, It's time for you to go." Jesse's shoulder turrets came up, though they did not track Amy.

"What's wrong with me going in there! Why are you all so against me seeing Sonic!" At this, Jesse lost it, shoving his helmeted face in Amy's.

"Because he's not here! This is a high-end military camp! Why would Sonic the hedgehog hang out here! Put two and two together, Amy!" grimly, Amy was forced to realize the truth of those statements, so she slowly turned and walked – with a broken dignity – back toward the plane.

Just as Amy was about to reach the ladder, Sonic came jumping over the side, clearing it and landing on the other side.

In the distance, the sound of metal striking metal was heard as Jesse put his face in his palm.

"Hey Amy, what's up?" Sonic said casually as he reclined against the plane. Amy shot a look of triumph back towards Jesse, just to see him shaking his head as he clomped back into the camp.

"They told me you weren't here, but obviously they were wrong." Sonic blinked, his smile disappearing for a minute.

"Actually, I wasn't here. I just got back from another raid." Amy sighed. She was going to have to apologize to Jesse, wasn't she?

"What's wrong, Amy?" Amy's smile returned quickly. "Nothing, just a little tired." Sonic smiled back.

"So you came all the way out here just to make sure I was okay? Pretty nice of you." Amy gave his hand a playful slap.

"I've always been like that, you just never notice." Sonic's face changed, he was trying to recall.

To his dismay, he really didn't know that much about Amy. She was, now that he thought of it, his most loyal companion; Tails would betray him before she did. Sonic suddenly felt a pang of remorse, Amy knew more of him than he did, it seemed.

"Hey, wake up." Sonic came back to now by means of Amy gently shaking him. "Sorry, I just kinda drifted off."

Tails' voice came from up in the plane. "Okay, we're ready to go!" the plane started up, and Amy quickly gave Sonic a hug when he turned away.

Awkwardly, as before, Sonic let his arms fall around her, though it came to him a little faster this time.

Sonic ended the embrace by clearing his throat. Amy backed off and brushed a couple of quills off her ear.

"Well, see you later." Sonic gave her a thumbs-up as she ascended the stairs. Tails was given the clear for take-off by the air marshal, and he brought the plane off the ground once Amy was inside. Closing the hatch, Tails angled the plane up, and then jetted off.

Sonic released a little sigh, an image of Amy smiling strangely decorating his vision.

Eggman sat in his Eggart high above the battle below him, taking place on the borders of Russia. Between the two fronts he was able to hold now that he had Fatal, Eggman had been able to finally conquer most of Europe, Fatal was working into Africa as he worked into Asia. Unfortunately Eggman would have to soon stop his aggressive maneuvers and lick his wounds. His forces had been at an all time high, but he was running out.

The U.N. had already been forced to recognize his empire as a nation, and he had a delegate in office representing him. He himself had undergone a dramatic change; he no longer was the fat, pale man he had been. After months of working out and leading his forces out in the sun personally, He was now tall and comely, his new apparel still reminiscent of his old pseudo-military garb, he wore a blood-red vest over a midnight blue tunic, his pants were made of light Kevlar, something he learned he needed to have one day when he was shot in the leg by an enemy soldier.

He was no longer the anger-prone hooligan who lost his temper whenever he met even a little resistance. His demeanor was now that of a battle-hardened veteran, with his cold, calculating eyes piercing anything and everything they came into contact with.

The skirmishes below him not going how he would have liked them to go, with his forces being effectively held back by the determined armies before him. Eggman gritted his teeth, pushing a button on his panel.

"All forces fall back. They win today." Eggman released the button and gripped the steering yolk. The Eggart moved down toward his forces as they drew away from the ruins the armies had conflicted in. Eggman drew out a large 9mm pistol as he strafed in front of his lines and stood in his Eggart. The dictator shot of the entire clip at the enemy soldiers, keeping them still long enough for his robots to get a little farther away. Eggman sat again, swerving around and getting to the back, or now the front of his shredded army.

_This will not do at all. I'm losing too many robots as of late. Darn it all! I'm going to be forced to bide sooner than I thought._

Two hours later, Eggman was back in the city of Warsaw, his battered contingent with him. Eggman had many things on his mind, most importantly how to keep the territory he had acquired while making more forces with which to get more territory. He had a minimum of one factory pumping out robots in each city, two in the bigger ones.

Eggman had looked over every bit of information in existence available besides what might be kept in someone's mind and found nothing that had to do with Mephiles The Dark. Though the name still felt familiar to him for some strange reason. The G.U.N. had made no communications with or from the ARK ever since Fatal had been up there, so Eggman had come to the conclusion that they had been exterminated.

Also, the G.U.N. was developing a space-capable battleship they were calling the _ArchMage_ – Eggman had stumbled upon this while looking for info on Mephiles – and now he had to divert resources into a counter ship. All in all, Eggman was not happy with what he had to deal with, and there was no sign of it getting any better soon.

Ashura loved moving as fast as he was, reality blurring in front of his eyes. He and his brother were the two fastest mobians ever, both being able to run past the speed of sound.

The green hedgehog's black mowhawk whipped around backwards, perpetually looking like a shark's dorsal fin. That is, if one even registered his shape as he zipped past. Ashura had already made three laps around all of Station Square, and he had taken less than three minutes. Smugly, he wondered if Sonic had that under his belt.

Orange sneakers hit the ground a few more times before stopping. The jade speedster stood in front of a flower shop, and suddenly he wished he had the couth to ask Valerie what kind of flowers she liked. He tapped his foot, trying to decide if he should go classic and do roses, stay basic and get daises and or daffodils, or settle for something like tulips or baby's breath.

Lost in thought, he didn't hear someone walking up on him. "Thinking of someone special?" Valerie asked. Ashura started, blushing a tad.

"Hey, uh, since it's convenient, what kind of flowers do you like?" Valerie laughed, and punched him in the shoulder.

"I like violets." Ashura nodded, inwardly embarrassed; those hadn't even occurred to him.

Valerie waited outside while Ashura went in and got a small bouquet of violets. When he came out, he pretended to just now notice her.

"Oh, hey Valerie, funny seeing you here. Say, you don't like violets do you? You do? Oh, good. I was thinking of you, so I decided to get some flowers for you, so here." Ashura adopted a goofy smile as he handed the flowers to her. Valerie barley kept from dropping them she was laughing so hard.

Once she had managed to regain control of herself, she took a few sniffs of the flowers. "That's what I like about you Mowhawk, you're such a goofball." Ashura's ear twitched at her nickname for him, it took some getting used to. Valerie started to walk again, so Ashura went along with her.

"You know, as long as I'm asking things about you, what's life like for you? I never hear you mention parents or anything." Valerie sighed drearily, looking up at the sky.

"I haven't seen my parents for so long that I really don't think about them anymore." Ashura scratched the back of his head, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. If you'd rather I didn't talk about it…" Valerie dismissed it with a wave.

"No, it's okay, I just don't have much of a life to talk about. That is, until you came along." Ashura looked sideways at her, unable to see into the statement.

"When we first met, you were with those other girls, and you were wearing a school uniform it looked like. What was up with that? I haven't seen them or even that outfit since." Valerie shrugged. "I was in my senior year, and we graduated a couple days before we met. We just wore those one more time for old time's sake. About not seeing them, they all _do_ have lives."

Ashura was feeling more and more foolish. Running his hand through his mowhawk, he simply could not think of what next to say. Luckily, he didn't have to.

_SCREECH!_

Everyone around looked up as the sun was blocked, seeing the silhouettes of large, winged creatures. Ashura identified them as Mephiles' wyverns. He put Valerie behind him and looked over his shoulder.

"Get somewhere safe!" Valerie hesitated, and Ashura prepared to put down an excuse to stay. What he got instead was a kiss on the cheek. Ashura put his hand where she had kissed him, and looked dumbly behind him where Val was running off towards a subway terminal.

_SCREECH!_

Ashura jumped out of the way as a fireball came careening at him. The green hedgehog pulled out the red super-emerald, he had given the blue one back to Sonic. Ashura clutched the emerald with one hand and threw his other out at another fireball as it came down at him.

The power of Chaos flowed out and suspended the smoldering chunk in midair. The wyvern that had launched the object cawed in confusion and anger. Ashura smirked at this, and willed the ball back.

The fireball jerked back into motion, colliding with a very surprised wyvern, sending it's scorched body into the street below.

Ashura exerted his power and lifted himself up on top of the department store he was next to, getting a high ground position.

From his new vantage point Ashura could see G.U.N. and local forces setting up AA batteries, though he guessed it would be several minuets before the first was operational.

Several wyverns fired on him at once, thinking perhaps the green rodent could only stop one at a time. To their dismay, Ashura stopped all of the flaming projectiles. The four wyverns circled him, looking for a chance to attack. Ashura countered this by spinning their fireballs around him clockwise, against the wyverns' counter-clockwise circling.

Ashura left the emerald to float alongside him, directing the fireballs with both hands. The jade speedster had the flames spinning around him so fast now that the wyverns couldn't follow them fast enough to see them breaking into fist-sized rocks.

Seizing one string of such rocks, Ashura hurled them into the sky at the circle, scoring hits into several wings, sending one of them down and decreasing the speed of the other three. Screeches of pain echoed all across the sky as the AA batteries started to open fire at the discord in the skies.

The three wyverns attacking Ashura swooped down to attack him with their physical weapons.

Six sets of claws came rushing in at the green hedgehog, who had already shot off the rest of the shrapnel around him line a shotgun into the sky, bringing down many more wyverns.

The three closing in extended their claws, as they came dangerously close to Ashura. The Jade speedster simply raised his hands in a warding motion and the wyverns were bashed off to the side as if something had collided with them.

Catching one of them, Ashura used its body to beat the other two until they stopped moving. Ashura jumped down from the building and took off towards where Valerie had gone.


	25. Chaos Vs Order Episode 25

Episode 25: True Power

Mephiles stood on the terra of the moon, staring at the Earth. The demonic hedgehog did not see the planet; he saw instead the faces of Sonic the Hedgehog and Nazo the Keeper of Chaos. Mephiles had grown far stronger than he had been when he first confronted Nazo, and now he debated to himself whether or not he still needed to hide behind the violet Master Emerald.

Mephiles looked at himself, and was just as appalled as he always was. The diluted shape of Shadow the Hedgehog was tiring, reminding him of his early incapability. Something in Mephiles' head snapped, and He threw off the bonds of the Master Emerald he had captured, the power of Chaos suddenly disgusting to him. Willing himself to cease to be dominated by Shadow in figure, Mephiles' body shifted and tore, reconstituting somewhat similar as he had been, his face remained the same, but his shoulders were broader, his arms and legs longer, and the few quills replaced by a vast sea of spines covering his entire back and the top of his head. The spines went all the way down to his elbows on his arms, all the way to his feet on his legs. Mephiles' lower face parted, growing a mouth. The tongue was a dark red, the teeth a glistening white. Grinning, the new porcupine-ish Mephiles flexed his muscular limbs and began to laugh.

"And now I am free of you completely, Shadow The Hedgehog. I rely on your form no more." Mephiles could see every detail of the earth's surface, even down to insects crawling on the ground.

"Of course, you are all insects to me," He said. Not that he truly believed that, after all, Sonic and Shadow had helped destroy him, and then Nazo… Nazo outclassed every other being in creation combined. To Mephiles, Nazo could have easily called himself a god. "But why not? Why do you choose not to see your potential?" deeming the Keeper a fool, Nazo banished thoughts of the silver-white hedgehog from his mind, only for it to be replaced by;

_Why am I thinking about Hedgehogs so much, anyway? What's so special about them? Let's see… Sonic is extremely fast, decently intelligent, and quite lucky. Shadow is as fast as Sonic, but mush stronger and far more powerful, along with more intelligent._

Ashura is the same as Sonic. Fatal is…young, inexperienced. Although he does have the potential to defeat all his competitors, he doesn't seem to even be aware of the true extent of his power. Metal Sonic is a strange phenomenon. The robot has somehow managed a soul, but darts to and from one master so fast that he cannot gain trust in anyone. There are so many similarities between that robot and Fatal that I wonder if the scientist did not just make a flesh version of him.

Mephiles stopped himself, seeing a recurring theme of the doctor's. The human kept making things meant to help him that had the potential to take over for him, each more powerful than the last.

"My my my, doctor Eggman, you've taught something to a god. How impressive. Now, let me teach you something."

Mephiles drew out a heavier amount of his essence than he had used even in the hydra and began shaping it.

"You mortals have decided to fight me with hedgehogs, so with a hedgehog I shall make you submit."

The energy between Mephiles' hands was beginning to look like a hedgehog, though a rather grotesque one.

The roots of the hedgehog's quills were laced in wiring that melted into its head, emerging around its elbows; the flesh ending and the forearms being mechanical. The hedgehog was also machine from the knees down, and its head right under its nose grew a thin metal plate.

Mephiles finished sculpting the hedgehog and stepped back to admire his handiwork. The hedgehog's fur was colored blood red, each hair combed neatly for a flowing texture. His gruesome marriage of machine and flesh gave him a sadistic appearance. His mechanical parts were a pure gold. The hedgehog had four quills, two smaller on the back of his head, two larger coming up from his forehead. The quills all bent backward near the top, carrying the classic style for all Mobian hedgehogs with similar quills.

"Myrmidon, arise." The hedgehog's eyes opened, revealing flaxen-yellow base with jet-black irises and sickly green pupils. The hedgehog stood, not with the shakiness of one who is new to all around him, but with the swift and crisp motions of an ancient warrior.

"My lord." Myrmidon said. His voice was double, a monotone machine voice mixed with the vibrations of an organic throat. The voice was baritone and bass, deeper than Mephiles'.

"Run things for me here, my servile, I must tend to things elsewhere." Myrmidon bowed to one knee and lowered his head in response.

"It is as you wish, Almighty Mephiles."

Metal Sonic snuck quietly through the city of Tripoli, where Fatal had currently set up base. (Metal Sonic had left Tails' house upon discovering that the fox was not there.)

Metal Sonic's ultra-advanced radar had picked up his fleshly counterpart in this area, along with a group of American soldiers, working a spearhead into Eggman's foothold. Metal had come here to Tripoli to stealthily do what he could to help them. As it was, Metal Sonic had yet to be spotted by anyone or anything, but he knew that his luck was not everlasting.

Metal Sonic came around the corner and saw the hybrid hedgehog sitting underneath a coniferous tree. Fatal's head began to turn quickly to look where Metal was standing, so Metal darted back behind the house he was hidden behind. The navy hedgehog stood up, much to Metal's dismay, and began walking towards the house.

Metal's form shimmered and shook, melting into a pool of mercury-like liquid, coming together again as a common earth mouse.

Fatal came around the corner just as Metal finished changing, looking around angrily. Metal gave a little squeak and darted around the house. Fatal chuckled to himself and turned to go back to his tree.

To his absolute surprise, the tree already had him under it. "What the…?" Fatal stared wide-eyed at the tree, hoping he was just hallucinating. The Fatal under the tree was fingering the purple Super Emerald, just as Fatal had been before he had gotten up.

Fatal still held the emerald in his hand though, so he looked at it, then at the Fatal sitting under the tree.

An idea occurring to him, Fatal tried looking through the Emerald at the Fatal under the tree.

Continuing with surprising events, Fatal stumbled back when he saw the malice-made-physical eyes of Metal Sonic right in his face.

The robot grabbed him, pulling him behind the house. "Shh." Metal instructed. He held his alloyed hand over Fatal's mouth, making sure the hybrid did not violate his command.

"You really should pay more attention to little things like mice, Fatal." The hedgehog's eyes lit up in anger, and he grunted something under Metal's hand.

"Don't worry, little hedgehog, I don't have to hold you forever, just long enough for a special little something."

As if in response, an explosion went off suddenly as the spearhead shoved its way into the side of Fatal's army.

"Yeah, that." Fatal began to squirm violently as he saw Sonic destroy entire groups of his robots while the men behind him, moving almost as fast – as impossible as it was – swiftly put an end to anything Sonic did not.

Metal Sonic saw Jesse in amongst the others, and was suddenly wondering what he was doing here. His momentary distraction was enough for Fatal to break his grip and elbow him hard in what would have been a ribcage.

"Oh yeah, you're a robot." Fatal said sheepishly. Metal Sonic stared him down, using the malice in his eyes to slowly turn Fatal's glimmering orange eyes into wide discs of fear before the navy hedgehog even knew it.

Fatal caught himself though, and shook his head. "You won't get me that easily, traitor." Metal Sonic laughed. "Ah, the old term that's become like a brother to me. Do you have any idea how little that means to me, Fatal? Look around you! Who's the winner here?" The orange eyes darted to and fro, looking for something to use against the robot.

Suddenly the eyes hardened, and they focused on the robot. "ME!" Fatal released an orange chaos blast, beam type, and sent Metal Sonic through the house he had hidden behind.

"Well, you don't have to be that upset about it." Sonic the hedgehog was leaning on a branch not three feet from Fatal. The hybrid snapped towards him, his chest rising and falling quickly.

"So you're half me, huh? What's it feel like to be two people at once?" Fatal blinked, not knowing how to respond.

"What kind of a question is that!" Fatal yelled, taking a step towards Sonic. The azure hero shrugged. "I was honestly just wondering." Fatal lunged suddenly at Sonic, punching… the tree he had just been in front of.

"Ahh!" Fatal grabbed his hand, feeling the fingers bruise. The tree had a hole in it, but small consolation to the fact that he would not be able to use his right hand for a few minutes.

Sonic, in the meantime, was rolling on the ground behind him, laughing. "Oh, you actually fell for that? That's the old-oldest one in the book!" the blue hedgehog managed to say in between laughs.

By now, all of Fatal's forces were gone, and he was suddenly aware of twelve or so powerful men all targeting him, from many different angles.

Metal Sonic finally came back through the wreckage he had been spewed through, and came to stand beside his counterpart, who was just pulling himself off the ground.

"Couldn't stay away from the action, huh?" Sonic asked, a smirk decorating his face. Metal gave him a sideways look. "Nope." Fatal growled, not liking their casual talk as if he was no threat.

Jesse walked out of the shadows, seeming to materialize there, and came near Fatal; his hands full with a Beretta M280 50. caliber sniper rifle.

"Give it up, Fatal, you lose." Fatal's quills shimmered black for a moment, then again.

All were confused at what they saw, not sure what it was. Fatal gritted his teeth at them.

His quills continued to dance and discolor, turning black and standing on end, only to revert back.

"No, it's you who loses! Chaos Control!" The emerald was suddenly in his hand, and it disappeared into him.

Jesse, Sonic and Metal were all thrown backward as Fatal bonded with the emerald, his form turning into a dark silhouette, the pupils and irises disappearing from his eyes.

Sonic sat up, the blue super emerald in his hand. Metal sat up too, although he now wished he had taken the emerald when it was offered to him.

Fatal rose higher into the air, filling the place up with his triumphant laughter. Sonic was about to go super himself when Jesse ran past him.

"GO!" he ordered, leaving no wiggle room in his command. The human held up the orange emerald above his head and gritted his teeth.

"I hope this works." He said beneath his breath. "Chaos Control!"


	26. Chaos Vs Order Episode 26

Episode 26: Warning! Dragon Ball-Z Rip Off Inside!

Jesse's pulse quickened as the power of Chaos surged through his body; setting his blood ablaze. He felt his muscles increase slightly in size, and his strength multiply a hundred times over. His eyes turned a brilliant yellow, giving off the same radiance surrounding him.

Fatal slowed to a stop about two hundred yards in the air, looking down at the human who dared see him as inferior. He was the Ultimate Life Form, surpassing even Shadow. How dare this human, new to using chaos at all, challenge him?

Jesse rose up into the air after Fatal, his brow sweating even through his super-form. Shadow was impossibly powerful, and Fatal was supposed to be even more so. Up till now, the navy hedgehog had seemed to have the mind of a teen, only understanding things relatively. The last thing Jesse had expected was for the hybrid to suddenly boast this much power.

Jesse's mind was fixed on Fatal, so he didn't notice Sonic following him into super-form and flying alongside him.

"You're not doing this alone, buddy!" Jesse looked over, staring at Sonic dumbly. "I suppose it was pretty stupid for me to think you'd actually run." Sonic gave him a thumbs up as they came parallel to Fatal.

"What about Metal?" Jesse asked, glancing down. The robot was still standing where he had been, looking up with his glowing red eyes, clenching his talons together. Jesse looked back up to Fatal, sizing up the powerhouse.

From all formalities and descriptions, Fatal was in a dark super-form, wherein he was more prone to rash reasoning and reckless actions. With Sonic helping him, Fatal should be easy to manage.

"For so long, Eggman sought to conquer Mobius, a world as alien to him as he was to it, a world that treated him cruelly." Fatal's voice came thick through the distance between him and the two supers across the sky.

"Eventually, Eggman was brought back to his home world due to a fluke caused by you, Sonic. He tried to bring Earth under him, but you continued to resist him. Your struggles caused the fusion of your world and his. After that came me. I am the greatest evolution of Eggman's conquest, made to be the pebble that would tip the scales for him. But I tell you now Sonic, I will be far more than a pebble for him! I WILL NOT LOSE!"

Fatal's hands raised towards his opponents, and the sky crackled with lightning. Bolts of Chaos arced down into his palms as he filled his reservoir with power.

Sonic pulled his fists to his hips, gathering power himself. Jesse tucked his hands in against his head as his legs folded up into a crouching position. Jesse released his limbs after a moment, yelling savagely.

The fire around the human grew to twice its previous size, matching in magnificence to both hedgehogs.

Fatal closed his hands, absorbing the energy he had collected. "Enough! Now you fall, Sonic! And after you're gone, the whole world will follow!" Fatal thrust his hands out at them.

"Chaos Spear!" an enormous spear blinked into existence, shooting off at the two golden figures.

Jesse and Sonic brought their hands up in a blocking motion, the spear exploding on contact.

Sonic lowered his arms without a word, but Jesse waved them a couple of times, shaking off the pain.

Fatal flew in closer to them, flinging Chaos Spears at every angle in Sonic and Jesse's general direction.

Jesse flipped backward to dodge one such spear, coming up with his palms together, fingers curving around a ball of chaos energy he was holding.

"Chaos Darts!" The ball depleted as hundreds of pen-sized streaks of energy shot out at Fatal. The hybrid had been entering a melee with Sonic when the darts started flying, so Fatal had to split his concentration between Sonic and the darts, allowing Sonic to score several skillful blows.

Fatal grabbed one of Sonic's punches and countered with a kick into the hedgehog's face. Sonic went careening backward, only to be replaced by Jesse, who executed his attacks with an acute precision that Fatal could not compensate for. The ex-green beret beat the smaller hedgehog backward through the skies as his super-enhanced reflexes out sped Fatal's blocks, fist after fist hammering into the hybrid's ribcage.

Sonic caught up with them just as Fatal finally managed to strike Jesse across the face, following up with a kick that sent the young man off to the side.

Metal Sonic stood on the ground watching the spectacle above him. The men whom Jesse had been with had taken cover and called for an artillery battery. Metal knew that nothing they could possibly have would even annoy the super people. What Metal Sonic had trouble comprehending was Fatal's super-form. In every way, he appeared to have executed a dark super transformation, but Metal was not reading any dark Chaos energy with his scanners. Metal Sonic thought back to when he had transformed into Metal Overlord using the power of dark chaos. The readings were a negative polarity from normal Chaos energy, and Fatal was emitting the same frequency of energy as Sonic and the human.

Metal Sonic again wished he had taken the white Super Emerald when it had been offered to him, Fatal would be even easier to handle if he had three supers on him. Metal Sonic blinked suddenly, an idea popping into his head. Raising his left arm, Metal Sonic unleashed a salvo of mini missiles up, targeting Fatal.

One of the men under an awning near him gave him the look one gives when they detect stupidity.

"Why the hell did you just do that? If he's handling both Sonic and Jesse, what are those going to do?" Metal Sonic's wrist reverted back to its normal state.

"In that case, what is that howitzer going to do?" The man thought for a moment before responding.

"Touché." Metal looked back to the skies, the missiles nearing Fatal.

Fatal threw Sonic off of him and Chaos blasted the human – Sonic called him Jesse – and backed up a bit so he could keep both opponents in his sight. Just as he was about to attack again, five small warheads collided with him, covering the area in smoke. Fatal spin-dashed out of the smoke, narrowly dodging a Chaos Spear from Sonic.

Fatal glanced down and saw Metal Sonic still at the scene. _Why that little…_ Fatal put his hands above his head, a large blue orb forming. Fatal threw the orb downward at Metal Sonic, but did not get to see its effect, as he had to go back to fighting with Sonic and Jesse.

"Great, now we all get to die. Real smart tin head!" the man who had yelled at Metal earlier spoke again. Metal Sonic shot him a glance and returned his vision to the rapidly descending ball. Reaching up, Metal formed a small vortex above his hand, bracing for the impact.

The orb came into reach of the vortex and was instantly sucked into it. Metal Sonic closed his brightly glowing hand, sending the power all throughout his body. The robot's blue color changed into a golden yellow as he underwent a super transformation of his own. Metal Sonic flew off the ground, looking back wistfully at the man who kept telling him how stupid he was.

Metal Sonic darted up in between the two sides, surprising them both. "Boo." Fatal looked down to see Metal Sonic's mini Eclipse Cannon pressed into his stomach. Fatal's eyes widened as Metal charged the gun. Fatal's sudden change in control allowed his disguise to shatter, so that his coloration changed to that of a reddish-gold color and his eyes returned to normal.

"You see? We're all the same for now, so don't make me blow a hole in your abdomen." Fatal's orange eyes flashed green for a second.

"Chaos Control." He mumbled. There was a green haze, then Fatal was gone. The energy from the orb ran out suddenly, dropping the normalized Metal Sonic down a good one hundred feet before his jets kicked in.

Super Sonic and Super Jesse came down alongside him, astonished. Metal Sonic looked at them with a hint of sarcastic innocence in his eyes.

"I seem to be developing a habit of out-classing supers without really using one myself." Sonic, Jesse and Metal touched down, the two former reverting back to their regular forms.

One of the other men came to stand facing Jesse. "So, what's the deal? Where'd he go?" Jesse shrugged. "Well, he's a sore loser, so he'll probably be back at his last place of victory." Jesse and the rest of his group began to walk off, heading back toward the forward command center.

Sonic and Metal Sonic stood staring at each other for a couple of minutes, trying to decide whether to speak or to wait.

"That was pretty clever up there Metal." Sonic said at last. Metal turned to follow the soldiers.

"Perhaps, but everybody's going to need to be pretty clever by the time this is over." Sonic smirked. "Yeah, well just cuz we are that clever doesn't mean we have to be all uptight about it." Sonic dashed past Metal Sonic, who was quick to speed off after him.

Titan brought his skates back into his feet, setting him into a run that he quickly slowed down. The sight in front of him was not what he expected. The checkpoint into Portugal was burned to the ground.

So much for a simple quelling.

The small buildings looked as if they had been blasted by an artillery strike. Upon microanalysis, Titan fount traces of uranium scattered all across the site.

_First particle accelerators, and now micro-nukes? Dare I wonder what's next? And where in god's name are these people getting this stuff?_ Titan made a wide sweep with his sensors, but he didn't find anything. Eggman would not be happy with this. The uprising he was to neutralize had already attacked him with technology that even Eggman hadn't perfected yet, the checkpoint was totally destroyed, and he had found traces of uranium in the area.

Something told him that this 'uprising' was a full-scale assault dealt under the table by the G.U.N., though that still left open to question how and why these men possessed particle accelerators.

Titan's back jest kicked into gear as he loaded his arm chamber full of howitzer shells. The mass of armor and artificial intelligence rose into the air, moving above the road at an amazing rate for his size. Titan knew that there was no way he could take on the kind of firepower against him alone, but he was determined to at least learn what exactly he was facing.

After another hour of flight, Titan finally came to the port-city of Lisbon. At least, what was left of it.

Titan walked through the ruined outskirts, looking into the destroyed buildings, scanning for any kind of life. All he found was more uranium, scattered everywhere; his radioactivity meters were going berserk. There was an eerie feeling in the air, like something one would associate with the 'graveyard feeling' in Hollywood zombie movies. Instinctively, (as if machines have instincts…) Titan extended his mace and held it firmly in his hands. The giant robot moved slowly through the dead city, his mood becoming darker with every step. Eventually, Titan stopped reading ultraviolet clearly, meaning that the gathering fog was going to bring an early dusk.

There was a noise nearby, like someone kicking a small object out of their way. The heavily modified Eggpawn Supercomputer spun to face the noise so fast that he about scared himself. Titan stared into the fog with regular camera vision, his thermo and light amplification could not pierce it.

A dark shape began to take form in the fog, something was moving toward him. As the shape became clearer, Titan tensed for a minute, thinking he recognized the silhouette of Metal Sonic. As the person continued to close in though, the idea was discarded. This was definitely another hedgehog though.

The hedgehog finally walked through the last of the fog and stood at its edge, twenty feet from the massive prototype.

"No need to quell that uprising, great warrior. It was the will of His Majesty that I see them gone." The hedgehog was blood-red with flaxen-yellow eyes. The bottom of the four quills on his head were interlaced with wiring, disappearing into its scalp. The forearms and forelegs were made of what looked like gold, along with the bottom half of the vermin's head.

"What are you?" Titan asked, disgust heavier in his voice than the fog in the air. The cyborg hedgehog raised a robotic hand to point at himself.

"I am Myrmidon." The hand swiveled to indicate Titan. "And you are nothing." Titan stood straighter, the servos loud in the dead air.

"I am far more than nothing. I am the finest technology in the world. I am machine perfectly bonded with sentience, the epitome of robotic evolution." Myrmidon laughed, a hearty, honest laugh. Titan just glared at the gruesome rodent, avulsed. Eventually, Myrmidon stopped laughing and stared at Titan curiously.

"Wait, you actually believe that that means anything? How foolish you are, great warrior. It is too bad you were not more intelligent, I would have liked to retell a profound victory to Almighty Mephiles when he returns." Titan recognized the name Mephiles from Fatal's reports and occasional ravings when he slept. Titan lowered his mace, feigning sudden interest.

"Tell me more about this Almighty Mephiles. Who is he?" it was like a switch was flipped in Myrmidon's head, as he was in full preacher mode suddenly.

"Mephiles is the god of the whole universe. He is the ruler of all that is. Mephiles is the prince of heaven, heir of Solaris, the Great Phoenix." Titan recorded Myrmidon's entourage for his master to review later.

"If Mephiles is indeed a god, let us see how well he favors his servant." Titan's mace was back in his hand, and a 102 howitzer shell was moving across the short distance at supersonic speeds. Myrmidon twisted at the last possible millisecond, flipping to the left to complete the maneuver. Upon landing, the humongous robot was gone. His demi-divine senses instructed him to look up, and he did so just in time to move out of the way of a powerful mace smashing the ground his over twenty tons of pressure. Myrmidon released a black cloud from his hand that shot out and struck Titan in the side. The bronze colored mega-bot grunted in pain as the cloud exploded across him, making his armor shudder. Titan's head turreted at Myrmidon, shooting him with the potent eyebeams. The blood-red hedgehog was pushed backward, but he sustained no damage. Titan freed his mace and held it out to his right as he turned to face where Myrmidon had been flung.

Titan's sensors picked up movement off to his left, so he jumped back to dodge the attack, while countering by bringing his mace through the area Myrmidon would pass. Unfortunately, Myrmidon stopped dead in the air, passing through after Titan's mace had gone. The blood red cyborg loosed another pair of black clouds at Titan, but the immense machine shattered the attacks by using his eyebeams to cut through them. Myrmidon passed into the fog once more, fading into the mists like a ghost. Titan's sensors were acutely aware of Myrmidon's position, but the cyborg had a tendency to have an erratic pattern to his movements, so Titan was not always fast enough to keep from being fried by more of that dark power Myrmidon kept hitting him with.

After only ten minutes, Titan's armor was scorched every-which-where, slightly warped in a few places, and Titan was now realizing that the blood red hedgehog was not even really fighting, just toying with his victim.

Titan may have been a robot, created to further his master's ambitions, but he had never been humiliated, so he became quite angry quite quickly.

"If you're so powerful, why don't you just finish me off already? Are you frail enough that not even your god can save you from the strength of a soulless machine?" Titan heard growling from in the fog, followed by Myrmidon dashing out of it right at him. Titan quickly swatted the fly with his 102 howitzer cannon, and then stood over the cyborg, who gritted his teeth.

"You commit sacrilege! I will show you the power His Majesty grants his servant!" Titan grinned, his turnaround had worked perfectly. Myrmidon zipped out from under Titan, floating in the air with his hands lost in deeper clouds than he had used before.

Titan prepped his intended counter, but he could only hope that it worked. Myrmidon's clouds ceased to deepen, appearing now to be holes in the fabric of reality; hungrily waiting to devour whatever Myrmidon threw them at. The clouds did not have to wait long. Myrmidon hefted the voids at Titan with a religious vigor, but too bad for him it would not mean much.

The top of titan's mace unfolded and opened into a gaping maw, like the jaws of a dragon. A bright white light came from deep inside the throat of the dragon head, and a beam of pure chaos energy streamed forth, vaporizing the black clouds and striking Myrmidon with devastating force.

The chaos reactor in the hilt of Titan's mace ceased to exhaust, ending the attack. Myrmidon was still right where he had been, but his face was frozen wit ha look of terror. Slowly Myrmidon's face changed into a horrible grin, made more appalling by the fact that the blood red hedgehog had no mouth.

"You see? You cannot defeat me. Mephiles has shown you His power!" Titan was grinning too, and Myrmidon couldn't figure it out. The robot pointed up, and Myrmidon realized the blast had gone behind him too. Looking up, the cyborg lost his cheer upon being crushed under a thirty-story building.

Titan smashed a piece of the building out of the way so that he could see Myrmidon's head.

"Wow, very impressive. Your god lets building fall on you. I think I should join the cause right now!" Myrmidon flew into a rage, but was unable to remove himself from under the ruins.

"Blasphemy! You will pay for this, you soulless…thing!" Titan kneeled down, looming over the insignificant looking cyborg.

"Perhaps I have no soul, but I more than make up for it in spirit." The giant prototype resumed his standing position, his back jets powering up.

"Thank you for the information you gave me about Mephiles. I assure you that any knowledge we have will be invaluable against him. Oh and, I'm sure your god'll come back to get you out of there eventually." Titan's massive body lifted into the air as the thrusters reached maximum burn. The bronze super Eggpawn tilted his weight some, sending him soaring through the skies, adding to his leave with a derisive laughter, leaving a scorned cybernetic hedgehog struggling underneath ten tons of debris.


	27. Chaos Vs Order Episode 27

Episode 27: The 'new, new deal'

Ashura sat on the couch in one of the living rooms of the enormous ThroneDyke mansion staring unseeingly at the television in front of him. Valerie was next to him, asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. Ashura's thoughts were centered on his father Jules, who had been dead for almost ten years. Ashura was left to take care of him after he and his brother had gotten in a fight ending with Sonic going away, though Jules gave them his blessing over their lives before Sonic departed.

Val sighed a little and shifted, drawing Ashura's attention to her. Valerie settled again, in a more prone position, still resting her head on Ashura's shoulder.

Ashura stroked the fur on the top of her head a couple times. He continued to think, but now more in a future tense. Did he even deserve to have Val? He had one heck of a time with family matters already in life, so what if he screwed up this relationship, too?

Sure he had made amends with Sonic, but his brother was a carefree person anyway, plus the azure speedster had a long to blow off steam. If he blew it with Val, he'd probably lose her forever.

Ashura very carefully got up from the couch, putting a pillow under Val's head to compensate for his absence. Ashura walked into the main hall and stopped for a minute. The moonlight spilled through the windows onto the floor, illuminating the large room to a degree.

Ashura moved on to the kitchen, where he got himself a small glass of water. Drinking it, Ashura started to go back to the living room.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Ashura stopped. "Volt? What are you doing up this late?" The little porcupine was lounging on the counter behind him, holding the red Super Emerald.

"How did you…?" Volt tossed it to him, and the jade hedgehog caught it without effort.

"You pick it up when you live on the streets. As to why I'm up so late, I could ask you the same question." Ashura was about to retort, but settled for abruptly turning and leaving.

"What's it like out there?" Volt asked, coming alongside him. Ashura looked down at him, and could see the dark circles under the porcupine's eyes and imagined he had similar lines.

"What do you mean?" Volt's eyes sparkled a bit, and Ashura could have sword he saw sparks dance around inside them for a second. "What's it like being one of the few people who can stand up against all the bad guys that are always trying to do the bad things they want to do to everyone else." Ashura shrugged.

"I dunno, I don't really feel all that special over it. I guess it's something that runs in my family." Volt made no response, but Ashura guessed his young friend had expected something more like: "I feel like I can do anything!" or something like that.

Ashura and Volt walked back into the main hall, where Volt said that he was going to go to bed. Ashura remained in the hall for a little while, staring at the moon.

Nazo sat cross-legged on Angel Island, the fire enveloping him the only light in the area. The Keeper had his eyes closed, his mind's eye seeing all life within 1 light-year of him.

As such, Nazo was shocked to sense Mephiles moving quickly toward another Master Emerald, at the same time feeling the power of the violet Master Emerald returning to him.

Nazo jumped to his feet, his eyes open wide. "No!" Nazo darted into sky well past the speed of sound, rocking the entire city with a sonic boom. The silvery-white hedgehog was soon far away from Earth, chasing the deranged being who every day grew in power, even now rivaling his own.

Vector was flung off of the couch as the sound barrier was hacked in two by Nazo. Espio fell to his knees, holding his hands over his ear-holes and grimacing. Charmee was thrown into a wall, where he slid to the floor, wide-eyed.

Vector got up off the floor and looked out the window. "What the heck was that!" The Chaotix stared as they saw what seemed to be a shrinking star in the sky. Charmee put his stubby finger up against the pane of glass.

"Is that… shrinking?" Vector didn't answer, he could only stare at what Charmee was pointing at.

Slowly, Espio backed away from the window, trying to think of what to do or how to react.

"Vector, I think we need to step up to the plate and do some charity work." For once, the crocodile didn't argue, just slowly responded.

"…Yeah."

Ashura was accustomed to sonic booms; he broke the sound barrier at least once a week. Unfortunately for the rest of the household, they were not. Ashura's super-fast reflexes put his feet under him before he even began to fall from his small lift. The rest of the house looked like it had barley survived a cataclysm though. Tables were knocked over, pottery was destroyed, their contents spilling across the floor, a few of the hanging lights came down.

The ThorneDykes, Amy, Volt, Mr. Tenaka, and Ella all came out of their respective rooms and stared at the main hall. No one said anything, but all guessed the entire city had similar issues. Everywhere lights were turning on, and already the sounds of panicked-stricken thousands could be heard.

Chris' grandfather Chuck was the first to break the silence. "What happened?" Oddly, everyone looked to Ashura, as if they were expecting him to have the answer.

Ashura stood there, his mouth opening and closing, looking from one to another, seeing the same thought in all their faces, though with a different accent for each.

_They're looking for a hero, and Sonic's not here. But to them, I'm the same._ Ashura swallowed hard. He had never had this many people depending on him before. Not just the ThorneDykes, but the entire city was going to want answers.

"I guess I could go up to Angel Island and see if Knuckles knows anything." Most of them nodded, but a couple remained passive. Awkwardly, Ashura went out the door. One chaos-control later and he was on Angel Island.

Ashura came out of the warp and was shocked at what he saw. The catastrophic concussion had obviously originated here. Trees were blown over, laying parallel to the ground all around a crater in the ground where the ground had been burned into coal. Ashura noted a few sparkling areas in the coal and recognized diamonds, proving just how powerful the force that did this was.

Ashura ripped his gaze from the Island's scar, forcing himself to get his bearings. Finding one of the landmarks, although it was also disfigured by the blast, and was eventually able to find the Emerald Shrine.

Ashura stopped, gaping. _Move, you fool! He'll die!_ Ashura zipped over to Knuckles still body, looking him over. Blood was all over the stair the echidna's head had hit, along with trickling blood coming out of the guardian's ears. Knuckles' chest was slowly rising and falling, relieving Ashura that he was still alive…for now.

At the top of the stairs to the shrine, a glowing image stood. Ashura wasn't sure, but it looked like Nazo. Looking back to Knuckles for a moment, Ashura began to climb the stairs.

"Hang in there, tough guy." Ashura reached the third stair from the top. "Nazo? What's going on he-" The translucent image of Nazo began speaking, sounding like a pre-recorded message.

"Greetings guardian Knuckles. I am sorry for my sudden and destructive departure, but my fight has been elevated to a level no one can accompany me on. Mephiles is heading for another Master Emerald, after suddenly disconnecting the last from him. I believe he has become powerful enough on his own that he does not need the Emeralds anymore, and will prove it by neutralizing the guardians. I must keep him from doing this, or our most powerful defenses against him will be gone.

I was unable to give the last two super-emeralds to their intended owners, Metal Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog, so the task falls to you. Do hurry Knuckles, the Super Emeralds may become our main advantage over Mephiles." The shade dissipated, now that it's message was finished.

Ashura stood still, trying to process what he had been told. Looking up, he saw the green and white Super emeralds laying atop the master Emerald. A groan behind him reminded the jade speedster of the guardian's dire condition. Racing up and grabbing the emeralds, Ashura turned and dashed back to Knuckles. Before he even made it four steps down, he froze, never having realized someone else had arrived.

Rouge the Bat was wrapping Knuckles' head in bandages, she had put cotton swabs wet with what Ashura guessed was antibacterial.

"What're you doing here!" he asked, his voice still shaky. She looked up at him for a moment.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm keeping Knucklehead alive!" Ashura came down the rest of the stairs, frowning.

"Well you don't have to be that upset." Something in Rouge's eyes flashed, like a bit of emotion running through them.

"We need to get him out of here as soon as we can. How far is your plane?" Ashura smirked. "Plane? Who needs a plane?" he held the red Super Emerald in his hand. Rouge stared at it, not sure how to react.

"I was pretty sure ASAP meant as soon as possible. Shall we go?" Rouge nodded, standing next to Ashura as the green hedgehog picked up the limp form of Knuckles.

Two days later, without Nazo to predict movements, they cybernetic hedgehog by the name of Myrmidon had not only unearthed himself, but had gathered all of Mephiles' servants and began marching out of Lisbon and through the north, toward the artic circle.

Already they had cut a hole through Europe, including Eggman's new Empire, the land that used to be France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Hungary, and part of Poland.

Myrmidon had swaggered through ruined foundries and factories all the way, pronouncing the glory of Mephiles as he swept aside all forces against him.

The governments of the world, even Eggman, were forced to see the threat Myrmidon posed, the terrible proof formed in two short days.

Eggman sat in a large desk chair, a particularly large television set before him. To his right was Fatal the Hedgehog, standing atop the desk with his arms crossed. The dictator had a webcam fixed to the top of the TV, and was broadcasting a live feed to the President of the U.S., the Prime Minister Of England, The President of Russia, The current leading faction in the Middle East, the dictator of China, and the five top positions of the Japanese nation, all of whom were similarly broadcasting to him and each other. They were arguing over how to go about putting a stop to the "Armies of Mephiles" as they were being called.

"I'm just saying that I feel Eggman should not be given a decision here. After all, his conquered nation now makes up the newest country on the planet! How can we expect him to run it correctly?" The Prime Minister of England had been trying to get as many delegates as he could to side with his opinion that with Eggman removed, the fight would go much easier, it would be only two-sided.

Eggman was able to keep his composure through these rants and raves, sufficing to simply smooth his moustaches. Fatal, on the other hand, was not so self-controlled.

"You're just afraid that when this is over, the Empire will take you next! Perhaps what would be better is if we conquered you now so that your discord was left out of this discussion!" The Prime Minister stood up suddenly, his face red with anger. Fatal glared hard at the digital representation of the man, knowing very well that there was nothing the British leader could do. President Michael stood up now, his face grim.

"We cannot afford to continue striking at each other's throats. Prime Minister, please take your seat. Eggman, control your attendant." The President of the current most powerful nation in the world sat once more, holding his hands folded behind him.

The Prime minister also sat, but he continued to stare coldly at the section of his screen that displayed Eggman.

Eggman looked at Fatal with a disapproving glance, and the hedgehog drooped a nearly unnoticeable bit.

"The only way we can totally eliminate the threat this Myrmidon poses is to find a way to keep him from creating these forces he has out of thin air. Unless we do that, he'll simply run away and create another army." Eggman leaned forward as he spoke, as if moving closer to the screen would get his idea across better.

The Russian President removed the cigarette he was smoking to speak. "I agree with Eggman. If we do not destroy this Myrmidon, we will just keep fighting until we have no more men with which to fight." The dictator of China nodded.

"We must act now if we are to stop him. It is my belief that he will continue to create forces until he can subdue all of the Earth." The Prime Minister of England's mouth twitched, his fingers tapping his desk. "Yes, we must act. But let us make sure that it is the noble nations of Earth that resume control of their land, not a dictator from far away." Eggman would have liked to reach through the screen and strangle the skinny man, but he would get to do that in person in but a few short months when he conquered Great Britain.

President Michael nodded. "Then it is decided. But the question remains; _How_ will we do it? How _can_ we do it? The armies of Mephiles have simply swept us aside like toys in every engagement. How can we defeat such an enemy?" all of the delegates nodded and mumbled their agreements; except Eggman, who simply leaned back in his chair and rested the tips of his fingers together. Several ideas were given, but Eggman wasn't paying attention. His eyes were focused on the back of Fatal's head, though he did not see the genetic cross-clone he had built.

_I never thought I'd see the day where I honestly don't see another choice, you little blue rodent._

The committee was interrupted from their arguing by a single word from Eggman. "What did you just say, Doctor?" Fatal asked, blinking in surprise as he turned away from the screen.

"I said Sonic. None of you has even thought about all the little talking rodents that have an outstanding reputation for dealing with impossible enemies." Fatal twitched at the term _rodent_, both halves of him despising the term. Eggman continued, putting his feet up on his desk, opposite from Fatal.

"And come to think of it, hasn't my tin-can of a Sonic copy-cat been flying around in U.S. airspace recently? Perhaps we can get him against this Mephiles, too." President Michael looked like he was going to say something against that, but couldn't quite bring himself to do it. Luckily, the Russian President spoke for him.

"I do not think that our men would like cooperating with your Metal Sonic. After all he's done… I'm sure you can imagine." Eggman frowned when the Russian said _your Metal Sonic_, but allowed the man to finish.

"Metal Sonic is far from mine anymore, you freeze-dried fool! That little pipsqueak nearly cost me my life last time! I have absolutely no influence over him. However," Eggman calmed down slightly, though he kept his angry tone. "if Metal Sonic still thinks the same way he did when he last appeared, he'll gladly help us defeat any enemy who dares try to conquer the earth before him." No one said anything, some thinking this over, some simply glaring through their respective screens at Eggman. After a long silence, President Michael stood.

"I can contact Metal Sonic." Those of the delegates who had been making trivial motions, such as smoothing a beard, tapping their fingers, rocking in their chair, stopped. Even Eggman put his feet back under the table and stared wide-eyed at his television.

"What?" the Prime Minister said, harshness rising in his voice. "How long have you been able to?" Michael dropped his head.

"Three months." The Prime Minister sat back and chuckled lightly. "When were you going to tell us? When the American flag is raised over Buckingham Palace, or when the pledge of allegiance is hung on the wall of every home in Moscow?" President Michael's fingers curled into fists.

"That is enough, Prime Minister. It is not your concern how America deals with nomad factions." The Russian President had the cigarette back in his mouth, and a look in his eyes like a bird of prey about to descend on a meal.

"Actually, contacting Metal Sonic now could very easily benefit us all. And I don't think he's allied himself the States, Prime Minister. One of my first battles he was fighting alongside his organic double." Eggman glanced at Fatal, first in surprise, then in disappointment.

"You've been leaving out information, my boy. You should make sure you update me on anything of importance." Fatal half-turned. "But it strike me as important. He did rebel against you, and what better way then to work alongside your nemesis?" Eggman inhaled deeply, placing his hands firmly on the table and standing slowly.

"We'll discuss this later, Fatal. Mr. President, do proceed." Michael nodded, and pushed a series of keys on the intercom next to him.

Metal Sonic stood on a rock outcropping, looking up at the evening sky. He had heard the news that Mephiles and Nazo had taken their fight to the stars, but Mephiles had left behind an adorable present for the peoples of Earth-Mobius. Myrmidon, the blood red cyber-hog that had walked right through all opposition into the artic circle.

Metal was still within 100 miles of the place where the short 2-on-1 super-duel the navy hedgehog had with his organic twin and the human, Jesse.

_Organic twin_, Thought Metal Sonic, _and only a year ago I called you my loathsome copy. Oh, how things have changed!_

Metal was shook from his thoughts by his internal communicator going off, access to which had only ever been available to two people; first Eggman, then, quite recently, Tails.

Expecting the latter, Metal Sonic activated the device, surprised when his vision blinked, and he looked upon a seven-way-split screen broadcasting live to a group of the leaders of the most powerful nations and factions in the world.

"What is this? Who contacted me? How did you get this frequency?" Metal Sonic noticed that his mouth was moving, and he suddenly realized that they were all staring at him out of shock, not out of fear. For the first time, Metal Sonic appeared to the world as a regular life-form, seemingly a flesh-and-blood creature.

President Michael cleared his throat. "I made the contact. Are you…Metal Sonic?" Metal Sonic thought of the possibilities of the President of the United States honesty, given that one of the only two people who were supposed to know how to get to him was on one of the screens.

"Of sorts. You are seeing the digital representation of myself, fashioned in even greater likeness to Sonic the Hedgehog. Mr. President, humor me when I ask how you contacted me? Did you somehow drag the codes out of Eggman?" President Michael huffed, shaking his head.

"As much as I'd like to say that I could accomplish that-" Eggman slapped the table and snorted. "-I was given the codes by Miles Prower, in exchange for your liberty to use American airspace at will." Eggman smiled at this, smoothing his moustaches.

"And also keeping you accountable for your actions by placing a leash on your collar that is held by the last superpower. Genius, little fox." Metal crossed his arms and frowned.

"Was I contacted so that you could toy with me? Deal plainly; I have no love for snake-tongued fiends." The President of Russia smiled, knowing that the words would have come from his mouth just the same.

"The United Nations would like to officially propose a militaristic alliance with you against the Armies of Mephiles. Between you and Eggman, we may gain an advantage over this Myrmidon's alien powers with much more advanced technology then what we have been fighting him with." Metal Sonic placed his chin in his gauntleted hand, pretending to think it over. Of course, he had already promised himself that he would see Mephiles fall, his power snuffed, and his conquered healed.

"I will provide myself as an ally, but I have no forces to pool, unless you think I can snap my fingers and have the Metallix bowing before me." Several delegates raised an eyebrow, but only the Prime Minister spoke.

"The Metallix?" Eggman shifted in his chair, answering before Metal Sonic. "An entire race of Metal Sonics, constantly building more advanced models, each generation greater than the last, in a doomed quest to built the perfect machine." Metal Sonic grimaced; Eggman's knowledge of his past was uncanny.

"Who are you to say they are doomed?" The robot spat, half-turning from the delegates.

"Because I already figured out that there is no such thing as a 'perfect machine'. Why do you think there is a cross-bred clone standing on my desk?" Metal Sonic turned back to the screen.

"Touché. However, I still have no army. On my own, I could destroy the entire Walker Corps of the G.U.N., but against Myrmidon, that means hardly anything." The Prime Minister flexed his jaw, thinking.

"Perhaps we could upgrade our forces with some of the more advanced technology you have?" Eggman snorted again, looking away from the screen. Fatal simply shook his head. Metal ignored these and responded simply, "No." The Prime Minister pursued, leaning forward on his desk.

"And why not?" Metal Sonic barred his teeth, showing that his visage had a shark's mouth.

"I will not help you advance your technologies just to have them turned on me once this threat is removed. I know what the people think of me." Once again, the leader of all Great Britain lost his temper.

"What the people think of you is that you are a monster who is hell-bent on forcing the entire planet to bend to you as its master, and from here you would conquest the heavens, snuffing out stars to fuel your empires, murdering and enslaving until every living thing kneels to you as the supreme authority in the universe!" The Japanese delegates, who had said almost nothing the whole time, began talking amongst themselves, too quietly for anyone to catch what they were saying. The Russian President removed the cigarette butt from his mouth and smothered the embers in the ashtray, leaving it there.

"A fine way to treat an ally who not only has just signed on, but could destroy you whenever he so chose. I think, friends, that if there is a next election for Great Britain, we will have someone more appreciative of his assets among us." President Michael slumped his shoulders, this was not working well at all.

"If there is another election." He repeated. Inhaling slowly, the President of the United States addressed all present.

"Bickering with each other will not help us. In fact, it will do us harm. The more time we take trying to put a knife in another's back is time that Myrmidon grows in strength. Metal Sonic, you may not have forces or technologies to share, but you alone count enough for a significant force. One other thing has occurred to me. Recently, the United Nations decided to take control of the space colony ARK, and was thwarted by a threefold opposition; two we know, and one we don't. Shadow, Fatal, and Mephiles. I propose, we send up our most powerful individuals to the ARK, and convince Shadow to ally to us, the Eclipse Cannon not to be controlled by the U.N., but operated by him as possibly the last hope for our races, for the safety of our world."

At first, there was silence, each party calculating the odds of the ultimate life form's cooperation, and then the chances that Michael would keep the ARK for America. Metal Sonic could see it in all their faces, calculation of whether it would work, then whether it would work for them.

After two minutes of silence that seemed like an eternity to President Michael, first the Prime Minister, then Eggman, then all the others began to clap. Only Metal Sonic did not, but simply nodded.


	28. Chaos Vs Order Episode 28

Episode 28: Star light, star bright, great battles I see tonight…

Sonic the Hedgehog stood in the subterranean hangar of Area 99, waiting for the others the United Nations had requested to take the President's proposed mission to finish getting ready.

Because of Shadow's lineage, the majority of the team was mobian. On the team was Sonic, Ashura, Fatal, Jesse, – fitted with his mecha suit – E-123Omega, Metal Sonic, though some parties had said that Shadow would not be happy to see him. Espio the Chameleon was also present, Vector had insisted that the Chaotix gave an appeal to Shadow as well, and the smaller reptile had been pushed into the spot.

They had requested Knuckles, but the crimson echidna firmly stated that he was not leaving the Master Emerald, now that Nazo had left.

Knuckles had reluctantly given Metal Sonic the white super-emerald, but left it to Sonic to give Shadow the green emerald.

The team would leave the atmosphere in the newly finished battleship, the _Archmage_, but the final eighteen clicks would be flown in small shuttle-craft, save Jesse, who would serve as escort.

Across the hangar, Ashura was saying his goodbyes to Valerie. Sonic had already told Amy goodbye, but seeing his brother embracing the lavender raccoon who kissed him on the cheek as he did so made the blue hedgehog feel that his farewell had been incomplete.

At last everyone was ready. The team gathered together near the sea of metal that made up the hull of the _Archmage_. Sonic noticed a slight trend between them, automatically taking pairs with another they were similar to. Sonic stood with his brother, Omega and Metal Sonic stood together, Fatal and Espio were unknowingly back-to back. Only Jesse stood alone, being the only human and standing before the team briefing them on the plan.

"We're only taking the 'mage as far as the satellite line. After that, you'll be paired up in three different shuttles, and I'll be flying escort. If Shadow opens fire with the point-defense lasers, then It'll be up to me to knock 'em out. Once inside, we need to head for the living quarters, a large, open area with several floors and good view of the sky." Jesse paused for questions, and was inquired by Omega.

"Why are we assembling in an open area? Would it not be more tactical to rendezvous in the primary laboratory complex?" Jesse nodded. "Remember Omega, this is supposed to be a mission consisting of faces Shadow will recognize, for the purpose of peacefully persuading him to work with us. Tactical matters will only be necessary if Shadow is openly hostile." Espio fingered the katana tied to his waist by a white belt with a red stripe down the middle. "In which case, he's no match for all of us."

The techs gave the team the thumbs-up, and a hatch that was no more than a pinprick compared to the rest of the massive vessel opened up, and navy personnel waved for them to get in.

The group shuffled inside the ship, and ushered to the bridge as the _Archmage_ began it's first live ascent.

Mephiles stalked up the stairs to the Shrine of the gold Master Emerald, well aware of the guardian hiding within the Shrine's walls. Mephiles reached out to the emerald as if he would strike it; forcing the guardian's hand.

The ground exploded beneath him, but the dark god remained where he was, standing on air. The guardian arose between him and the Emerald, a glowing orb with many tentacles twitching around it.

_You should not be here._ It thought toward Him. Mephiles grinned, his teeth flashing. _Nor should you._ Mephiles finished his striking motion and struck the orb at its center. The guardian backed away, a spot of Mephiles' energy on it. The spot began growing, enlarging with more speed as it covered more of the orb. The guardian started vibrating violently as Mephiles' dark energy finally covered it, then abruptly shattered into a thousand pieces with a piercing shriek of pain. Mephiles turned his head to the sky, His divine eyes seeking out the next Emerald.

Mephiles' vision was suddenly obscured by a mass of white energy, and upon retracting to normal sight again, Mephiles had just enough time to smoke away before Nazo impacted, obliterating the Shrine, burying the Emerald.

Mephiles resolidified in front of the enraged Keeper laughing. "Nazo, Nazo, Nazo. You chase me across the stars and leave my devout to conquer the one place in creation that poses any threat? Surely you can think of a better approach?"

Nazo glared at Mephiles hard, a one-mindedness in his eyes that showed no room for anything else but Mephiles' destruction.

"You are the threat, Mephiles. Without you, your faithful will have no power. First you stole an Emerald from me, and now you seek to destroy them! Well I say no! Not as long as I still live!" Nazo charged Mephiles, covering the distance in but three nano-seconds.

Mephiles moved just to the left of Nazo's fist, returning with a punch of his own. Nazo grunted and took a step backward, but recovered and dealt a swift kick into Mephiles' pelvis.

The dark god spun away coming out of his move with a lance of energy; the same attack that had killed Sonic.

Nazo twisted his torso, limbo-ing under the dark lance. The Keeper released a beam of his own, but Mephiles blocked it with the back of his hand. Nazo closed in on Mephiles again, assaulting the dark god with a flurry of punches so fast even Sonic would not have been able to track them.

Mephiles simply made whatever part Nazo struck at intangible, easily dodging all the Keeper's attacks. The dark god brought His knee up into Nazo's chest, ending the furious barrage.

Mephiles followed up with a backhand across the Keeper's face, sending the silvery-white hedgehog crashing into the ruined Shrine. Mephiles laughed as the Keeper rose from the dirt and once again charged at the dark god.

Mephiles extended His will towards Nazo, catching the Keeper around the throat with an invisible grip.

Mephiles laughed again as He walked near the Keeper. "You are a fool, Nazo. You knew that I grow in strength each day, yet you did not challenge me when I was weak. Now I am strong, more so than my brother. Very soon, I will surpass even the power my father wielded. But you will not see that day, Keeper, for today you burn!" a black inferno surrounded Nazo, lashing at him with excruciating pain. Nazo's cape set ablaze, furthering his torment. The rich fabric burned away quickly, letting the black chain that had held it to him drop to the ground. The chain had been forged by Nazo's brother and given to him as a reminder that every light has a shadow, but that did not change the potent chaos energy it held.

Tearing his attention away from all the pain, Nazo concentrated on the black chain. At first, it stood still, but soon it began to twitch, and then suddenly it flew from the ground and rushed through the dark flamed and struck Mephiles' face.

The dark power in the chain collided with the dark power coming from Mephiles, and the chain exploded, breaking the dark god's grip on Nazo.

The Keeper fell to the ground and gasped for breath, his power slowly healing the powerful wounds Mephiles had inflicted on him.

Nazo cast his sight around for Mephiles, but did not see him. Nazo began to stand, but was painfully brought back down to his knees.

"No, Keeper. You will stay there, for you are not worthy of my presence!" Mephiles materialized in front of him, scornfully looking down.

"If you had only seen the truth I so plainly put before you Nazo, I would have let the power of Chaos remain in the world. But since you resist me to your end, know this; I will destroy all the emeralds, and any artifact that holds your power within it! Because of you, the peoples of creation will suffer punishment of resisting me! Because of _YOU-_"

Mephiles extended his finger towards Nazo, "Every living being on Earth and Mobius will burn as the planet is consumed by my fury!"

Nazo snapped his head up, arms outstretched. "NO!" the canyon the two beings occupied was filled with a raging river of Chaos, Nazo unleashing the most powerful attack ever, fueled by his anger towards Mephiles, his compassion of all living things, and the desperation of protecting the power of Chaos.

Nazo's fur grayed, the reservoir of energy he held within him waning. The beam of pure chaos energy finally subsided, leaving the canyon nearly twice as deep as it was before.

Unfortunately, Mephiles still stood, seemingly unharmed. The dark god's eyes were wide with pain and shock, but he was frozen still. Nazo fell to the side as he began to lose unconsciousness, his fire licking off of him here and there.

_I should be up there with them._ Titan thought as he watched the takeoff of the _Archmage_. Eggman stood in front of him, his back turned as he also watched the battleship's ascent. Titan shifted uncomfortably, his always tactical-thinking brain coming up with the analysis that Myrmidon would strike now that the most powerful figures – in the physical sense, anyway – were leaving the planet wide open for attack.

True if their mission succeeded they would be able to obliterate all of Myrmidon's strongholds, but there was no guarantee that the ultimate life form would have anything to do with what he considered "Other people's wars".

"Sir, I don't think we should stay long. We need to expect an attack from Myrmidon at any moment." Titan said, having taken his mechanical eyes off of the battleship. Eggman nodded, turning around. "Myrmidon's been able to simply knock aside any forces we throw at him, so what's the point of putting more and more against him? Our best shot is to migrate all our forces to the capitol, where we could at least hold off an attack, hopefully for long enough for Fatal and those rag-tags to get Shadow to see the reality of our situation."

Titan said nothing, not comfortable with leaving all that territory unguarded, but not wanting to contradict his master, either. Eggman climbed into his Eggart and began floating the bulbous craft back towards Area 99's hangar bay.

Inside the Area 99 control room, President Michael stood at the back of the room observing all the activity before him. Officers all over the room monitored the _Archmage_'s status, from speed to artificial climate. The massive battleship had already entered the upper atmosphere and continued to climb fast.

Behind Michael, the doors opened to let in Eggman, who came to stand beside the President. Although most of the men were quite ill-at-ease on having the dictator in on the action, the _Archmage_ was crewed with almost as many of Eggman's robots as G.U.N. personnel.

The _Archmage_ emerged from the atmosphere and began the final run to the drop-off point.

Besides the techs quietly talking to their partners on board, the room was silent.

Sonic's forehead began to sweat as him and the others made their way down the corridor to the shuttles; he was not looking forward to being cramped in the small craft at all. Although the team had subconsciously separated into pairs on the ground, they had been paired up with whichever teammate best complimented their abilities. Sonic was paired with Omega, the hulking robot's heavy firepower well matching his super-speed. Ashura had been matched with Espio, his brother's telekinetic powers matching to Espio's ninja techniques for a deadly combo. Fatal and Metal Sonic had been matched up as the muscle of the team, the two both possessed super-speed and particularly powerful capabilities. Jesse stayed loner still, his mecha suit allowing him to match to whoever he happened to be near.

The team reached the shuttle bay, splitting into their pairs as they headed for their shuttles. Jesse donned his helmet as he strode to the door controls at the back of the hangar.

One by one, the doubles signaled Jesse for a go. First Metal Sonic, then Omega, and finally Espio commed him for deployment. Jesse's taloned gauntlet ran over the control terminal, lightly poking the commands in for the door to self-seal after opening.

The gigantic sheet peeled back, opening the hangar to space. The shuttles taxied forward, lifting off at the mouth of the bay. Jesse ran around the terminal and activated his wing and foot jets. The doors began to close, though Jesse was through long before they sealed.

Now all they had between them and the ARK was open space, and potentially insurmountable firepower.

"We should be in optimum firing range of the point-defense systems in three minutes." Jesse said over his comm. to the rest of the team. "And in the nearest bay five after that." Jesse's targeting computer ran over the surface of the space colony, searching out the closest landing point. Upon finding it, Jesse forwarded the trajectories to the shuttles.

"keep in that direction, but stay loose. If we come under fire, the last thing we need is one of you running into another." Jesse boosted to the front of the formation as they neared the ARK's defense range, fully ready to charge in and stop the firing by any means necessary.

Four minutes later, and four minutes from their destination, the ARK had still to fire on them, but Jesse's omni-wavelength radar had already detected the ARK having scanned them and presently tracking them with the point-defense weapons.

Fatal observed the forwarded data and smirked at Metal. "Perhaps Shadow's in a good mood." Metal turned his head and gazed at Fatal for a moment, then looked back to his HUD.

"He's more likely to be taking a nap than be in a good mood."

Shadow had chaos-controlled back to the ARK after his fight with Metal Sonic, and had not been overly active since. From the space colony, the black and red hedgehog had observed what intercepted data bursts labeled 'The armies of Mephiles' make a path through Europe into Artic lands, but had done nothing about it. After all, Sonic was good at handling this type of thing, and it wasn't Shadow's fight.

But now, Shadow stood in the center of an observation deck, peering out through the glass at the four vessels rapidly approaching the ARK. His glance occasionally flicked to a sensor display, showing the figures in 3-D rendering, thermo reading, and the updates from the targeting systems.

Shadow didn't know why they were coming for sure, but he could guess. One thing that left him wondering was that all the parties who had recently infiltrated the ARK were flying up together, Eggman's Sonic-spliced spin-off of him, the large ship the shuttles had launched from reading as belonging to G.U.N., and one of the shuttled contained a passenger with the exact same shape/size/density readings that had registered when Metal Sonic had been here.

_Why can't they just leave me be? They just can't leave this place alone, can they?_ Shadow shook his head slowly, disappointed. Sighing, Shadow walked to the control board under the sensor display.

"If you can make it inside, perhaps I'll see what you want." Shadow said aloud as he ordered the point-defenses to open fire.

The sensor screen flashed red with the words "TARGET LOCKED". Ashura tapped on his comm.

"Remember what you said about a nap, Metal? I think Shadow just woke up!" Espio yanked the yoke to the right, steering the shuttle to strafe as a bright green laser tore harmlessly past the craft's underbelly.

"Hang on, Ashura. This could get a little dizzy." The speakers buzzed as the three pilots alerted each other to their movements so one did not end up taking fire for avoiding the other shuttles, or crashing into their comrades for dodging fire. Ahead, Jesse zipped forward in the _Steel Icarus_, intent on denying Shadow of one asset.

Jesse banked to the left as a laser arced toward him, locking onto the barrel with his targeting systems. Jesse raised his right hand and fired the Chaos Rays. Five blue rays of lightning shot out at the laser turret, the appearance of the attack making Jesse feel strangely like Emperor Palpatine. The lightning connected with the gun, coiling around it, rendering it harmless. Several nearby cannons diverted their attention to him, having presented himself as a threat. Jesse boosted up – not that their was an 'up' in space, but it was up in relation to the lasers – and fired two clustermissles at the turrets, one from each wrist. Several of the rockets scored hits, but none of the batteries seemed affected.

Jesse frowned inside his helmet, upset by the lack of damage the missiles inflicted. Jesse closed in on a spiral, keeping the batteries from locking on to him. Jesse cut under one of the guns, raking it with bullets and lasers. A small explosion escaped from one of the holes Jesse had punched, and the laser ceased to fire. Jesse twisted and zipped away from the ARK, attracting the attention of more batteries as he came into their targeting view. The shuttles were almost to the objective hangar, they would be inside in only a short 45 seconds more.

One of the lasers struck the _Steel Icarus_ while Jesse had been observing his comrades, but luckily the shields held.

_Good job, Tails._ Jesse thought as he fired more Chaos Rays at the offending laser battery.


	29. Chaos Vs Order Episode 29

Episode 29: Negotiations, Testosterone, and Lasers!

Sonic stepped out of the shuttle, closely followed by the hulking Omega. The team had successfully made it onto the ARK, which was still artificially alive with the mindless protocols they had always followed, maintaining the long dead colony.

"Cozy place." Ashura said, being his first time aboard the ARK. Sonic rubbed under his nose.

"Yeah, and the going just gets better inside! Shadow's somewhere around here, but there are other things, too." Omega came alongside Sonic, looking towards the passageway that would lead them to their destination.

"Define the term 'other things'." Sonic shrugged as he began to walk, the rest of the team following.

"A few straggler black arms, unless Shadow killed them all, and a whole nest of artificial chaos clones. Not to mention the ARK's sentry drones." There was the sound of spinning gears behind them; Jesse was revving his chain gun.

"And here I was expecting an actual fight." For several long minutes, the team walked down the halls led only by the navigational capabilities of Metal Sonic, Omega, and the _Steel Icarus_, but eventually they found their way to the living quarters.

The hall opened into a vastly open room that roughly resembled the lobby of some grand hotel. There were several floors, each wrapping around the room, dotted with doors behind which were the abandoned homes of the many people who had lived aboard the ARK.

In the center of the room was a fountain, one that should have been long since dead, but was mysteriously spouting water. Metal Sonic turned in the direction of the fountain suddenly, talons curving a ball of green energy that would soon become a lethal beam.

The fountain disassembled before them, water draining into large balls beneath groups of the shattered fountain.

Metal Sonic released the pent-up energy in his palm, eliminating three of the artificial chaos clones. Not that that was any real damage to their number.

"I think we found the nest you were talking about, bro." Ashura said.

Shadow stood on the top floor, back away in the dark, watching the interlopers fight off the horde of chaos clones. Now that Shadow got a look at them, he could clearly identify them all;

Sonic, though he had half-expected that, the blue adventurer always seemed to find his way back to Shadow. The green copy of Sonic that had been introduced as the hedgehog's brother, the navy look-alike Fatal, his old friend E-123 Omega, Espio, the ninja chameleon from the Chaotix, and the menacing clone of Sonic in robotic form, Metal Sonic. There was also a tall human inside a mecha suit, but of the few glimpses of the man's face, Shadow couldn't recognize him.

The group below was more than a match for the host of aquatic terrors, but they didn't know that yet. Shadow would normally have just re-opened the airlock as soon as they got out of their shuttles, but he was curious as to what could make such factions band together.

Most of the chaos clones had been destroyed, the remaining retreating down the hole that had been left in the place of the false fountain. Jumping through a hole in the floor next to him, the ultimate life form decided that it was time to greet his visitors properly.

No one would have seen it coming if Metal Sonic's superior systems had not, once again, alerted them to an incoming object. The team had thought it to be some other local force, possibly a black arms remnant. But when Ashura was barely fast enough to catch several chaos spears as they closed in out of nowhere, they knew.

Shadow stalked out of the darkness a moment later, the chaos spears fading as he neared them.

"You never can give up, can you?" Shadow said to Sonic, a light smirk evident on the black hedgehog's face. Sonic stepped forward ahead of his still stunned brother and faced Shadow.

"Nope. And that was one pretty shoddy welcome, if you ask me." Shadow huffed. "Good thing I didn't, then. So what brings such unlikely allies up here, anyway?" Shadow had lost his smirk, replaced with the iron glare that was to be expected of him. Omega stomped up next to Sonic, inner logic dictating that he had the best chance of getting anything out of Shadow.

"Shadow, we have need of the ARK's primary weapon, but our orders dictate that you be the one to control this instillation. The armies of Mephiles have gathered together all at one point. We believe that one attack from the Eclipse Cannon would have superb results." Jesse rolled his eyes at Omega's directness; he had wanted to try to play Shadow into firing the weapon.

Shadow remained passive, looking from one to the next of the group before him. Every one of them was looking at him, waiting to hear his decision.

_They're all depending on me,_ Shadow thought grimly, _just like before, with…Maria._

Sonic thought for a split second that he saw Shadow's eyes moisten, but when we looked again, there was no change in the ultimate life form's eyes.

Shadow looked out through the dome ceiling, into open space. "Mephiles is out there, I can feel him. Even if I destroyed all of his abominations across the world, he would remain, ever growing stronger." Shadow dropped his gaze to the team again.

"But then again, how could we fight him if we still have a rope around our necks?" Sonic looked hopeful, but Omega spoke before he could.

"Is that an affirmative Shadow?" the black and red hedgehog smiled again, but only a half-real smile.

"One shot." Sonic felt like hooraying, but was able to contain himself. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Sonic turned to answer.

"Emerald. Knuckles. Not happy if you bring it back." Ashura said in his ear. Sonic turned again, but Shadow was already walking off with Omega and Jesse in tow.

"Shadow, wait up!" The blue speedster got in front of Shadow almost instantaneously. "I almost forgot. This is for you, from Nazo." Sonic produced the green super emerald and held it out to Shadow, whose eyebrows raised with almost childlike curiosity.

_So much power,_ Shadow thought as he rolled the emerald over in his hands. _Like a chaos emerald, only…stronger somehow._

"Nazo says there's only so much energy in it, so don't use way too much way too often." Sonic broke Shadow's train of thought, but he quickly recovered.

"I think I can manage how much power I use on my own, thank you." Shadow said sarcastically. Sonic smiled in return, knowing that it was just Shadow's way of saying thanks.

"If you ask me, this is a lousy idea. Why should we be risking our necks for that Eggman jerk?" Charmee whined from the back of the jeep. Vector had to try very hard not to reach around and slap or strangle, or _something_. Eggman had hired them to investigate the origins of the mysterious particle accelerator, and Tails had volunteered to come along, too. This time though, Vector had forced Eggman to pay in advance, and had really wanted to also charge interest for the last job he had hired them for.

"Be quiet you idiot! We're actually getting paid this time, remember? So stop crying and keep your mind on the job!" Tails chuckled a little, even without Espio here; Vector and Charmee were somehow able to keep from killing each other.

"It's not that far from here," Tails assured Charmee, "Titan said they attacked him a few miles before the checkpoint, so we'll try to pick up the trail there." Charmee settled down, but his fellows could still hear him grumbling in the back.

Within the next fifteen minutes they arrived at the location Titan had given them, and the place still held evidence of the struggle.

Vector got right to work taking details of the area, while Tails used a magnetic resonance scanner to pick up traces of uranium that Titan had reported in the area. Charmee wasn't too much of a help, mainly just sitting in the jeep and pouting until Vector told him to do something, then he would just return to his seat afterward.

After all the forensics were done, Vector had found traces of blood and gray matter splattered in the sands off to the east of the road; Tails had found particles of depleted uranium in the asphalt and in the hillside to the west of the road. Between the finds, Vector came to the conclusion that Titan had unfortunately done too good of a job on the people who attacked them.

"There's no way to tell where they came from or where they were headed next." Vector was saying as he and Tails returned to the jeep. "It's a good thing Egghead paid us in advance, because I can't imagine the look on his face when we tell him that we can't go further until they pop up again." The crocodile smiled at the thought, imagining the megalomaniac throwing a fit. Charmee crossed his arms and sunk in his seat.

"Who cares? This whole thing is still dumb."

Nazo slowly opened his eyes, quickly coming fully awake due to the constant pain he was feeling. Sensations of bruising, blood clotting, nausea, and raw skin came over him in waves, wracking him. He was chained to a spire jutting out of what appeared to be a giant amethyst floating through space. In front of him was a small black hole, pulling the freakish asteroid he was on in towards oblivion.

Nazo gritted his teeth, Mephiles had recovered far faster than him and was surely on his way to the next Emerald. Possibly he was already done with those, and Nazo's death would be like some coronation ceremony.

_Stop thinking like that._ He told himself. _You'll be out of this soon enough._ Mephiles materialized in front of him, magnifying the pains ten-fold.

"Indeed you will not, Nazo. You have opposed me for the last time. You will meet your final destiny in oblivion today, and no power can stop that." The dark god said sternly, almost in rebuke. Nazo's reservoir of energy was full, evident in his white fire, but he could not access it. It was quite frustrating. Mephiles observed him for a while longer, reassuring himself that there was no way Nazo could be a threat, and then he vanished.

Nazo stared at the black hole, but his attention was on the bonds keeping him against the spire. With tremendous effort, Nazo was able to pull his mind away from the falsified agonies, concentrating on the spire and the ghostly chains. Nazo closed his eyes, picturing the spire shattering in his mind. Directing the power of Chaos into the spire, Nazo began to hear a rending noise as the amethyst shuddered. Nazo pulsed the energy again, pouring his power into the wounds of the asteroid, pushing it apart.

After a grueling twenty minutes, the amethyst was finally weak enough for Nazo to finish off. With a yell, Nazo pulled his arms out from behind him, tearing the ghostly chains from the spire, obliterating them. At the same time, a crack ran up the spire, splitting it in two. The entire structure groaned, releasing Nazo from its dying grasp. Nazo stepped away from his prison, and looked down. At the core of the jewel asteroid was a clot of Mephiles' power, the power that had kept him in place and in pain. For good measure, Nazo struck the amethyst with his foot, leaving a spider web of tiny cracks.

The jewel had taken enough strain, and Nazo's stomp tipped the stress over the edge. The amethyst shattered into millions of tiny particles, all of which continued to float off toward the black hole. Nazo turned around, and was rather surprised to see the Milky Way Galaxy as viewed from a distance. Nazo was at an alarming distance, and even he may not be able to get back to Earth, or any Emerald-holding world before Mephiles succeeded. The Keeper gritted his teeth, coiling his limbs inward.

_I will not give Mephiles the satisfaction of his mad quest coming to a finish!_ The silvery-white hedgehog pulled all the power of Chaos within the immediate area to him, draining so thoroughly that it left a hole in the flow for a minute.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" the power exploded, a supernova of white light as Nazo transported himself toward Earth ten times faster than the speed of light.

Sonic stood on the observation deck of the _Archmage_, peering out at the ARK. Omega had stayed behind with Shadow, but the rest of the team was back on board the colossal battleship. Shadow may have told them that he would give them the assistance of one shot from the Eclipse Cannon, but each minute that Shadow did not fire felt like hours, trying Sonic's short patience. Already Sonic had passed some time by exploring the interior of the battleship, but with his speed that had not taken very long at all. There was a specially armored room where several members of their team had taken to sparring, but Sonic would prefer not to get all banged up and end up missing the action, whenever it finally started. Ashura had no qualms over this, and had already gone several rounds with Espio, though he had only won the first one.

Thinking about how boring waiting around was, how fast he could move, and knowing that he could be doing something active like sparring, Sonic finally gave way to his need to do something, turning and heading off to the sparring room.

Metal Sonic stood across the room from Fatal, waiting for the signal to begin. Fatal had insisted that they had unfinished business, and the navy hedgehog would not cease to ridicule Metal's cowardice until the robot had accepted the challenge. Jesse, who was the only one present who had not been in the sparring chamber yet, came over the microphone.

"3…..2…..1….Begin!" Fatal instantly jumped to the wall, running alongside it for a moment as he charged Metal Sonic. Metal likewise ran at Fatal, his heavy feet clanging on the ultrasteel floor. Fatal jumped off the wall at Metal Sonic, foot first in a strong side kick. Metal easily dodged this and moved behind Fatal, dealing a palm strike into the back of Fatal's head. The navy hedgehog recovered quickly, throwing several Chaos Spears as he spun around. Metal back flipped over these, letting them pass harmlessly as he was airborne. As he landed, Metal fired his mini-laser cannon at Fatal, who twisted around these as he ran at Metal once again.

Fatal caught up to Metal before he could dash away again, grabbing the robot's wrists. Fatal knew he would not be able to hold on to Metal Sonic for long, so he jumped up and dealt Metal a pair of swift kicks in the head, letting go of the robot's arms and allowing him to fall backwards. Metal was unperturbed by this assault, however, and stalked forward as Fatal landed, deftly catching him across the ribs with his talons. Fatal stumbled back, flailing a glowing hand to ward Metal Sonic off. Metal stood still, folding his arms across his chest.

"Come on, Fatal, you're not hurt that bad. Can't you handle a few paper cuts?" Fatal glared at him, though the slashes across his side had already healed, making his feign useless. Fatal pivoted his feet, running at Metal Sonic in a zigzag. Metal ignored this, waiting until Fatal was almost too close.

"Chaos Blast!" Metal released the beam of the energy he had built up when he had taunted Fatal, a tactic that he found quite useful. Fatal rocketed back as he desperately held up the barrier he had formed last-second. The barrier was hastily constructed and malformed, and so it flickered out before Fatal was halfway across the room. Metal ended his attack then, making a point not to cause the hybrid any real harm.

Fatal was about to charge Metal again when a klaxon blared. "Time!" Jesse declared. "Battle analysis allocates twenty-two points to Fatal." The navy hedgehog folded his arms and smiled. Twenty-two was the highest score so far today.

"Battle analysis allocates to Metal Sonic… Twenty-three points!" Fatal's smile vanished. Metal walked over to the exit door, and looked back to Fatal.

"Maybe next time." Fatal scoffed, but reluctantly followed Metal out the door.


	30. Chaos Vs Order Episode 30

Episode 30: Malevolent Enigma

Myrmidon wrung his hands together in anxiety. Amassed before him was all his siblings the mighty Mephiles had left behind, and plenty more that Myrmidon had formed himself. All in all, there was close to twenty thousand beings staring eagerly at him, waiting for the command to devour the civilizations of Earth-Mobius. The flaxen eyes darted across His army, a gleeful smile across the synthetic bottom of his face.

"Soon, children of the Almighty Mephiles, soon! We will storm across this world and subdue all life in it upon tomorrow's dusk! The fall of the sun will symbolize His Majesty's authority over creation!" the legions of lesser beings roared, screeched, moaned, whatever noise they made that passed for a cheer. Myrmidon threw his head back and laughed, his semi-mechanical voice becoming lost in the chorus of his companions.

Knuckles sat in front of the Master Emerald as he always had, watching the sunrise. He thought about the armies of Mephiles, and how they had across the world to amass in the arctic. Their commander had hot-wired the communications arrays of all the now-ruined military bases and pirated a message to humanity amd Mobians the day before saying that tonight he and the armies of Mephiles would scour the world, subduing all life upon it. As Nazo had disappeared, Knuckles was having to believe more and more that the end had finally come.

Suddenly the morning sky was lit up as if the sun had exploded, forcing Knuckles to shield his face.

Speaking of Nazo…

The silvery-white hedgehog now stood in the center of the fading light, breathing heavily. No sooner had the Keeper checked to make sure there was land under him, he dropped, landing like a meteorite about five miles from The Emerald Shrine. Knuckles gaped dumbly at the smoke rising from the forest, but quickly came to and ran towards the crater as fast as he could.

About half an hour and several truckloads of felled trees later, Knuckles came across the unnatural clearing caused by a meteor crater. Nazo still laid at the center, facing the sky. Knuckles couldn't tell if the Keeper was conscious or not from here, but he felt like something was missing. There were military choppers around the site, scooping out the crash and making sure it was not another attack from Mephiles. Knuckles would normally been yelling vainly at them to bug off, but Nazo at the center of a crater he caused was a _little_ more important. Knuckles slid down the side of the crater, running the last few yards to get momentum.

Nazo rolled over and got to one knee while Knuckles was still a ways off, but now Knuckles could see why he had looked different. The rich cape was gone, and from the looks of it, the black chain, too.

Knuckles finally made it to Nazo's side. "Nazo! Are you all right!" he asked, his tone gruff from the fast and reckless blundering through the forest. Nazo stood to his feet, shaking his head.

"I…I couldn't…beat him." He said in between still heavy breaths. Knuckles was already sweating from what was probably the fastest he'd ever moved of his own volition, but hearing that made his sweat turn cold.

"You mean Mephiles?" he asked shakily. Nazo nodded. He absent-mindedly moved his hand to his neck to adjust his cape, but then remembered that both cape and clasp were gone. "He's strong enough to freeze time now, Knuckles. If I don't think of something fast…" Knuckles nodded. "I know, I know, Armageddon and all that." Nazo shook his head much quicker this time, whilst he eyes bolted open.

"They're that strong now!" the Keeper said suddenly, cutting Knuckles train of thought clean in half.

"What? What do you mean 'they'? what are you talking about?" Nazo blinked a few times, and his eyes lowered to the ground for a moment.

"The armies of Mephiles… led by that… Myrmidon." Nazo seemed to be seeing something, because his eyes sparkled for a moment and he smirked.

"Ugly fellow, is he not?" the Keeper said, raising his eyes back to level with Knuckles.

"Guardian, we need to get the team of rather capable beings off that battleship and down here, to the Master Emerald. I believe I know how we may have a chance to defeat Mephiles yet." Knuckles scratched his head for a moment as Nazo jumped up into the sky and headed out toward space.

Metal Sonic held a washcloth damp with glass cleaner and was polishing his armor when Sonic walked in on him. Metal ignored him at first, thinking that Sonic would either try to talk him into a race or something. Instead, Sonic sat on the floor and watched Metal for a few minutes. Eventually Metal stopped polishing himself and turned to his organic counterpart.

"Can I help you, Sonic?" Metal asked, in only slightly agitated tones. Metal Sonic's voice was the same deep bass that it had always been, but his voice had lost its malice over time since his defeat as Metal Overlord.

Sonic ground his teeth together for another moment, but then asked quietly, "Metal, why did you join us in the first place?" Metal was taken off guard by the question, having expectations for something like, "Hey metal, let's go race!"

Metal Sonic stared at his counterpart for another moment. "I am programmed to be superior to you. I have done what I have done to fulfill that." Sonic scratched the back of his head.

"I expected that. But that doesn't explain why you haven't tried to kill me yet." Metal's eyes glowed a little, radiating slight amusement.

"If I killed you, you would cease to exist. How can I measure superiority against something that does not exist?" Before Sonic could respond, Metal continued.

"If you want to know why I would help you, it has to do with my perspective of things. Through all my analysis, all my data, all the times we fought, you always won. I could not fathom this, because I did not consider morality until Nazo came along. Between him and my own conclusions, I have found a way to be superior to you." Sonic raised an eyebrow, suddenly intrigued.

"Oh? And how have you managed that, Metal?" Metal Sonic stood to his feet and pointed his index talon at Sonic.

"I can out-serve you." Sonic stood also. "Out-serve? What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Metal's eyes glowed again, with more amusement that before.

"I can out-hero you. How about that? In my perspective, I am more capable that you, and with the right direction, can potentially do this world more good than you can." Sonic was about to give Metal a witty rebuke – he already had his finger in the air – but Metal cut him short again.

"Fortunately for you, you have a huge head start on heroics." Sonic put his hands on his hips and smirked.

"Well, if you have to be better that me so badly, that's not the only thing I have a head start on!" he retorted as he dashed from the room. Metal Sonic leaped out after him, programmed instinct taking over.

Sonic sped down the hallways, people scrambling to the walls so as to not be run over. Metal Sonic came shooting after him, and with every step Sonic could hear the robot come a little closer. Making a super-high speed turn, Sonic detoured off toward the cargo hold and shuttle bay beyond that. Metal Sonic executed a flawless turn less than a second later, keeping Sonic in his sights.

Sonic ran into the cargo hold, a vast expanse several miles long. The floor was littered here and there with cargo, but the battleship's enormous size made the crates look like Rubik's cubes on an ice rink. Metal Sonic came alongside Sonic, and looked at him briefly before returning his gaze to the path ahead. The two hedgehogs weaved in and out of crates and shocked workers, heading for the far end, and towards the shuttle bay.

Sonic vaulted over a small crate and landed running. "Just like old times, eh Metal?" Metal's eyes glowed as he looked at Sonic.

"No, in old times, I would be doing THIS!" Metal swerved into Sonic's side, shoving him towards an incoming pile of crates. Sonic dodged around them, of course, and then shifted to slam Metal with a retaliatory attack. Metal shifted ever so slightly, and Sonic slipped off his side and almost tripped and fell. Almost. The blue blur did lose a little speed, however, giving Metal Sonic the lead.

Metal rocketed through the door that led to more corridors and eventually, the hangar bay. The hangar bay wasn't nearly the size of the cargo hold, and would not be a very good spot for racing. Metal Sonic turned around a corner and stuck himself to the wall, his foot out in a tripping stance.

Sonic zipped around the corner just after Metal, tripping over the robot's foot and careening into the conveniently placed opposing wall, back first, head down.

Metal Sonic laughed at the scene of Sonic sliding comically down the wall with an almost squiggle-shaped mouth. You could about see the upside-down sweat drop, too.

Sonic quickly back flipped and dashed up to Metal. "Now that's cheating." He said sarcastically, pretending to look hurt. (although Metal could detect several bone bruises along Sonic's spine.)

Metal took on a malevolent pose, with his nose pointed up and eyes pointed down, so it looked like you were looking up at him.

"Superior by any means, remember?" Sonic rubbed under his nose. "Well in my book, you're not better than me if you have to resort to trickery." Metal mimicked Sonic's motion, moving in unison with him.

"Too bad I'm not using your book, then."

Just then, Ashura came darting around the corner, landing on the wall and running along its length over Sonic and Metal's heads. "Heybroseeyoulatergottarun!" he said hurriedly. Just as the green blur dashed around the corner, Fatal came running around the corner, copying the movement along the wall.

"You can't run forever, pipsqueak!" Fatal likewise dashed around the corner, leaving a shocked and slightly embarrassed pair of blue hedgehogs of varying origin.

"Wait, what?" Sonic said. Metal shrugged. "guess we're not the only rivals on this clunker." Sonic looked around the corner just to make sure that no-one else would come blasting around it.

"Why don't I go show those two who the _real_ speed demon is on this spaceship!" Metal jabbed his shoulder. "That'd be me." Metal jeered, taking off after the hybrid and Sonic's brother. Sonic wasted no time in pursuing Metal, yelling, "Get back here, you rustbucket!"

Shadow strode from panel to panel, powering up the Eclipse Cannon. Omega was in another part of the control room, dealing through the computer codes so the firing mechanism would unlock. Shadow finally reached the switch that would power up the Eclipse Cannon to fire.

"Omega, do you have a fix on the target?" he called. The hulking robot's head swiveled around to face Shadow.

"Affirmative. Eclipse Cannon aligned for minimal collateral damage to the ice cap."

Shadow nodded, and flipped the switch. The ARK shuddered for a moment, the old generators powering up to fuel the blast. Shadow skated up to Omega, and stared at the HUD he was using.

The bar and percentage marks went up as the power flow filled up the conduit connecting to the firing mechanism. The bar quickly reached 20%, and climbed faster the bigger the number got.

"Warning! Target dispersing! Maximum damage reduced to 80%!" Omega called out suddenly. Shadow looked at the screen again, frowning at what he saw. The black clump was slowly moving south, heading straight for Greenland. Another glance at the power bar read 73%.

"Alright Omega, we'll just have to make do with what we got. Fire the Eclipse Cannon now!" Omega's massive arms readjusted the targeting yolk to the new center of mass.

"Affirmative."


	31. Chaos Vs Order Episode 31

Episode 31: Getting ready to Roll

"Warning! Target dispersing! Maximum damage reduced to 97% and falling!" Omega called out suddenly. Shadow looked at the screen again, frowning at what he saw. The black clump was slowly moving south, heading straight for Greenland. Another glance at the power bar read 73%.

"Alright Omega, we'll just have to make do with what we got. Fire the Eclipse Cannon now!" Omega's massive arms readjusted the targeting yolk to the new center of mass.

"Affirmative."

The ARK shuddered as it realigned against the orbit to track the moving mass on the planet's surface. When the cannon was fixed, Omega ordered the computer to fire, at 80% capacity. There was a pause, as the Eclipse Cannon gathered the energy together.

"Come on…" Shadow said impatiently, tapping his foot. Omega backed away from the computer. "Firing."

Myrmidon ran through the Arctic tundra, the Armies of Mephiles filing behind him. A wide grin decorated his face, for as the sun set before him, so would his enemies fall. Myrmidon was lost in the joy of pleasing Mephiles that he did not notice the green illumination spreading from behind him until the thunderous crack of a mighty force shattering sound was rent through his ears. Tumbling, Myrmidon rolled across the ground. An immense shockwave shoved him back into the air before he had even stopped rolling. Landing in a large snow bank a good distance away, Myrmidon sat up.

To his horror, an expanding orb of green energy was emanating from a beam that descended from space.

The red and gold cyborg scrambled to his feet and ran as the orb evaporated the snow bank he had landed in. Eventually the orb ceased to expand and dissipated. Myrmidon slowed to a stop, shaking with adrenaline. Turning, Myrmidon flinched and stepped back as if struck. There, where His armies should have been, was a large lake, ridded with small floating blocks of ice.

Myrmidon fearfully glanced at the sky, half-expecting to see Mephiles scowling at him. Instead he saw the silhouette of the ARK, visible by the setting sun.

Myrmidon looked across the lake, seeing only a few lucky stragglers and the very rear of the army had survived. The cyborg may have had the ability to Shape more servants, but nowhere near fast enough. Myrmidon sank to his knees, having been abandoned by his god and helpless against a powerful enemy. When Myrmidon realized that he had concluded that Mephiles had left him and not felt guilty over it, he cupped his face in his taloned hands and wept. Alone.

Jesse stood on the observation deck with the other members of the team, watching as the beam struck the planet where the dark clump that was the Armies of Mephiles populated. When the light show was over, there was no more visible spot on the planet's surface. At worst, the Eclipse cannon destroyed over two thirds of the Armies. At best, all of them.

Jesse cheered, followed by the others. All the others except Fatal, Metal Sonic, and Espio. The latter did not bother Jesse; the ninja was never very loud. The two former though, Jesse felt oddly troubled at their silence. Once the cheering had died down, the group broke into saying exited comments to each other, like: "Now all we gotta do is get Mephiles!" and, "Yeah, we did it!" The group soon left the observation deck, looking to see how soon they would get down to Earth. Jesse lingered a little longer than the others, long enough to see what looked like a glint, first farther away, then much closer. Dismissing it as space dust, Jesse left the room.

Nazo floated alongside the great battleship, looking for a way inside without Chaos-Controlling. The large bay doors were the only way in that he could see, but he would have liked to get inside without prying the massive doors open. That would not be a trouble for him, but it would result in anything unprotected being sucked out to space.

Nazo floated down onto the ship's hull, and began jogging along its length. He had seen a glass dome forward on the ship, and that seemed to be his most likely entry point. Nazo could phase through the glass with the power of Chaos, but going through the sheer mass of alloyed metal beneath his feet would be much more difficult.

Eventually, Nazo came across the dome. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a point of observation. (Nazo has never been on a spaceship, so he doesn't know what it is.)

Touching his hands to the glass, Nazo closed his eyes and concentrated. His body began to vibrate, and then grew slightly larger, while becoming translucent. He passed through the glass, and then quickly reverted back by snapping his eyes open. No one was in the room, though he could hear that Sonic and company were not far away. Walking out into the unfamiliar maze of corridors, Nazo began walking toward the sounds.

Mephiles sat on a dark throne, seated at the center of a grand mausoleum built upon a neutron star. Mephiles sat with one fist supporting His head, looking annoyed. Indeed He was annoyed, for not only had Nazo managed to escape when He was sure that the Keeper would not, but the one he hated most had destroyed all but a few of those Loyal to Him.

Mephiles was viewing whatever He pleased in a small vortex before Him. Presently, He was viewing His faithful, Myrmidon, weeping at the bank of the new lake Shadow had created. Mephiles was unsure of what to do with Myrmidon now that his purpose was defeated, and that angered Him. He was angry that he did not know what to do, because if He was indeed a god, he should know everything…Shouldn't he?

Mephiles blinked in surprise, baffled that He had just doubted Himself. Of course He should know all! He was Mephiles, Son of Solaris, and His knowledge was greater than even His Father's! Mephiles slammed his free hand down on the throne in a fist, cracking it.

"It is Chaos!" He declared, though only to himself. "Chaos is what keeps this creation from perfection. It is Chaos that has kept me from my right as the King of All Life! I will bring Order! Yes, order, the opposite to chaos." Mephiles nodded in agreement with Himself.

"Yes. Order." The dark god snapped his fingers, and the vortex showed Myrmidon again.

"Arise, my servant. I have new purpose for you, and new power."

Ashura stood in his quarters, the red Super Emerald floating between his extended hands. In front of that, the green hedgehog was holding his bunk in the air, trying to keep it as stable as possible. Ashura was beginning to sweat at the strain of concentrating on keeping the bunk perfectly aligned. The green hedgehog was in such tunnel-vision that he did not notice his twin brother sneak in.

"That's a weird place for a bed." Sonic remarked coolly. Ashura jumped, dropping the bed and the emerald.

"Well hello to you too." The blue hedgehog continued. Ashura picked up the emerald and turned around.

"Geez, don't do that to me! When did you ever start creeping up on people, anyway? I thought that was Espio's thing." Sonic shrugged. "Usually." He zipped to Ashura's side and elbowed him.

"But I can't pass up an opportunity to give my brother a little startle." Ashura grabbed Sonic around the neck and started giving him a nuggie.

"And I can't pass up an opportunity where you leave yourself unguarded!" Sonic wriggled free, and the two went into tussle of super-fast elbows, nuggies, and full nelsons.

Nazo walked up to a door in the corridor that was open. Inside he could hear what sounded like a struggle, but he didn't detect any hostility. Coming to the doorway, the Keeper found Sonic and Ashura having it out in a grappling match. Presently Sonic had his foot planted in Ashura's back, and holding one of Ashura's arms held behind him. Ashura's other arm was flailing around, trying to get a hold on either Sonic or something to throw up at him. Nazo had to stifle laughter, but cleared his throat instead.

The two hedgehogs looked his way in surprise, zipping out of their brawl in a green and blue blur, standing with their backs to each other, trying to look innocent.

"Tsk tsk tsk. I should think that the world's greatest hero would be a little more mature." Sonic and Ashura's eyes widened as they realized who was talking.

"Wait, you're…when did you…what!" Sonic and Ashura sputtered. Nazo sighed. "Yes, I'm back. No, Mephiles hasn't been defeated. And yes, I do have more for you to do." Ashura's mouth opened and shut as he tried to think of something to say, having to settle with; "You're good."

Sonic scratched his head. "So whadda need us to do now?" he asked. Nazo motioned for them to follow. The three hedgehogs continued down the hallway.

"Mephiles grows more powerful by the day. Destroying his followers on Earth will only make him angry. I originally thought that the Super Emeralds would be enough to destroy him, but he has surpassed the power of them and the chaos emeralds combined." Sonic put hand up to his chin so that his thumb and index finger were positioned like a checkmark under it.

"So if Mephiles is getting more powerful every day, how are we supposed to beat him?" Nazo looked at a sign and took a left, towards the Arena.

"The only way I can think of is to gather the Master Emeralds together and confront Mephiles with their strength before he overcomes them, too." Ashura, who had noticed something amiss about Nazo, but couldn't quite place it, finally spoke.

"Nazo, you look different somehow, but I can't tell how…" Nazo looked at him briefly, then pointed to his bare back, where the bluish-silver fur was exposed.

"My cape was burned away when I fought Mephiles." He rubbed his neck where the chain used to rest.

"Likewise, the chain clasp was also lost." Ashura's eyes widened, finally seeing why Nazo looked different.

"May I ask why the fur on your back looks blue when the rest of you is a whitish silver?" Nazo shrugged.

"You can, but I'll just tell you it's a fur pattern." The three made it to the arena, where they could see Fatal practicing his powers on hordes of attack drones.

"You know, I've always thought that he was way more like Shadow than me, but I'll bet you that Mr. Ultimate stuck-up thinks the opposite." Ashura laughed, but Nazo simply walked up out to one of the balconies.

Below, Fatal held off the drones by means of chaos spears, bomb-style chaos blasts, and some other chaos based attack that looked like an extending whip that cleared out several areas.

After watching for about a minute, Nazo raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Small red orbs blipped into existence around his now curled fist. Nazo extended his hand at the drones, opening his hand so that his four fingers pointed at the arena floor, the thumb jutting away from his hand.

The little orbs each sought out a drone and exploded with it, ending the training session.

Fatal looked up to the balconies, seeking out who dared mess around with him. Upon seeing Nazo, his glare lightened.

"Nazo?" the hybrid said blankly. Nazo leaped down onto the arena floor. "Indeed. When you get back down to the surface, I will require that you come with me to the Master Emerald. I will explain to Eggman your absence." Fatal stared at him for a moment, and then he turned, crossing his arms.

"Fine." Fatal suddenly sprang back around, pointing his finger at Nazo and standing in a very Sonic, like way.

"But if I get in trouble for it, you're gunna have hack to pay!" Nazo chuckled at the idea of Fatal trying to take him on, but made it look like ha was laughing out of confidence.

"Of course. Now, you should probably get the commanding officer here to let you depart now, because the longer we wait, the harder this will be." Fatal raised an eyebrow.

Before the hybrid could respond though, the Arena door opened, revealing Sonic. "C'mon, Fatal, let's get goin'!" Fatal looked sideways at Nazo, who just held his hands palm-up.

"Why do you need my permission to go?" Seeing Nazo's point, Fatal simply walked out of the Arena and off toward the shuttle bay.

Myrmidon clutched in his hands a dark purple stone that Mephiles had given to him. The stone, according to Mephiles, held the power of order, and would be what Myrmidon would use to survive until Mephiles returned to Earth. Myrmidon stared intently into the jewel, letting it teach him all of its abilities. Using the stone, Myrmidon could put time on pause, leap from place to place instantly, fly rather than float, and more still that it yet to teach him. Mephiles had called it a 'time stone' when He gave it to Myrmidon, and seemed to reflect on past memories when He said it, but that mattered little to a servant like Myrmidon.

The cybernetic hedgehog had gathered the few creatures that had survived, and Mephiles had blessed them with heightened intelligence and power. Myrmidon was still superior to them all though. There were two others besides him now: Brahkoth, who had been just a wyvern, but was now a five-headed hydra twice the size of the wyverns. Brahkoth's abilities focused on strength. Then there was Fezrinn, who used to be one of the dark phoenixes, but was now a powerful black raven, Her powers were based in speed rather than strength, but she was still as capable as Brahkoth.

The two lesser beings stared at Myrmidon as he stared into the time stone, waiting for him to relate Mephiles' teachings to them. Neither of them could Shape like Myrmidon, so they had to rely on other means to fight.

Myrmidon looked up from the stone to his new companions, and smiled briefly. "What does the time stone say, Myrmidon?" Brahkoth asked eagerly. Fezrinn looked scornfully at her hulking partner. "Do not be impatient, Brahkoth! He will tell us just the same without your nagging." Myrmidon laughed, drawing their attention to him.

"Oh that blundering idiot!" he shouted, continuing his laughter. The others stared at Myrmidon worriedly, and then at each other.

"Of whom do you speak, mighty one?" Fezrinn asked sternly. Myrmidon cocked his head to the side.

"The great warrior. I do not think he ever said his name. But he is strong, I know that first hand." Myrmidon straightened his head. "He is enormous, and covered in a bronze armor. He carries a mace with the breath of a dragon." Brahkoth snorted.

"But you have only ever fought him once, yes? You were new and weak then, and now there are three of us. What kind of concern could he possibly be?" Fezrinn was about to rebuke him, but Myrmidon spoke.

"That's just it. Why do you think I was laughing? I told him after our last fight that I would make him pay, and now he willingly comes, when I have never been stronger!"

Fezrinn shook her head. "What a fool."

Titan soared over the Arctic tundra, towards the ground zero the Eclipse Cannon just left. Shadow had alerted the _Archmage_ that they would not be able to fire at 100%, and the G.U.N. aboard in turn relayed the info to the UN. Eggman found out from President Michael, and he sent Titan to go pick off anything left. Of course, he had a complimentary 200 dreadnaughts with him.

As Titan neared ground zero, he started picking up the telltale radioactivity that signaled the presence and/or wake of Mephiles' creations. Or one in particular, anyway.

Titan signaled to the dreadnaughts behind him, and took to the skies, the mass of robotic death following.

Titan and his phanalax flew over the newly formed lake, and Titan's scanners began picking up the remaining population of the dark monsters. When they had first migrated here, there had been several million of them, but now there were approximately three thousand of them. The dreadnaughts began picking up enemy targets also, and they started sweeping down in groups to rain death on their targets.

Titan descended along another group of them, his howitzer ready. The dreadnaughts fired their missiles at a rapidly ascending group of wyverns, killing most of them. Titan's howitzer made short work of the few escapees.

As the dreadnaughts began to ascend again, Titan detected a higher concentration of radiation, and ordered the squadron to form up with him. Landing about a quarter of a mile from a hastily constructed igloo, Titan activated his mace and smashed a few black flame thingies that tried to ram him. The dreadnaughts opened fire on anything that got too close, lead by Titan, wading through the snow to the malformed igloo.

"Myrmidon…" he said. "Time for round 2."


	32. Chaos Vs Order Episode 32

Episode 32: Mephiles' Gift – The Soul Emerald – Heart of a God

Volt walked down the street, kicking a can as he went. He had just snuck out of the ThorneDyke estate, and was looking for something, _anything_ interesting to do. Living with the ThorneDykes had been fun at first, but he got bored with the same routine of going around town with Amy, Cream, Big, and sometimes Valerie. It was really boring when Val was around, because she would just chat with Amy, and Volt would be forced to wait around and listen to them. As Volt walked along, he couldn't help but feel like the place he was in was familiar. The more he looked around, the more dejavu he got.

Volt turned left down an alleyway, then right into another, and stopped. He was looking at the alley he had curled up in what seemed like another life, the place where Nazo's crystal had appeared, taking him on this adventure.

Volt carefully walked into the alleyway, looking for things that he could recognize. There was a blue dumpster in the far corner, which had been there last time, but that was about all. Volt quickly turned around, somehow felling like he would be stuck here again if he stayed too long. Volt scurried out of the main alley, back onto the street.

Not many people were out, having expected Armageddon tonight. Volt looked around and realized that he really did not know how to get back to the mansion from here, and the sun was setting fast. Volt decided to try walking back the way he had come, going back down the street.

Half an hour later, Volt had come across three intersections, three curves in the road, and multiple forks. He was sure that it hadn't taken him this long to get from the mansion to the old alleyway, but he hadn't seen a sign of the place yet. Volt's eyes started tearing up, and he started running down the street. It was dark now, and Volt thought he could see eyes looking at him every time he ran across the space between streetlights. During one such run, his foot caught in the crease between the sidewalk blocks, and he fell down, scraping his knee. Volt quickly scrambled into the next light, but there he curled up against the wall, crying.

"I wish I was back home!" he said, thinking of the big dinner Ella must've prepared, and the warm bed he could be sleeping in. the more he thought of it, the more he cried. Soon his T-shirt and chest fur was soaked, chilling him even further.

The little porcupine stayed curled there for what felt like forever, wanting to at least find somewhere warm, but not wanting to leave the light.

Unknown to Volt, he had indeed seen eyes, and those eyes were watching him now. Mephiles was quite sure what Nazo was going to do; Gather the greatest heroes and use the Master Emerald's power to confront Him. Mephiles wasn't as powerful as all six Master Emeralds combined, so He had quickly come up with a failsafe in case He was destroyed by the power of Chaos.

Weaving His power, Mephiles crafted a large blanket made of fur that mirrored His own. Mephiles walked into the streetlight behind Volt and quietly unfolded the blanket, placing it over the sobbing porcupine's shoulders. Volt started, turning around to see who was there. When he saw Mephiles, he froze, though his tears became more abundant, if anything.

"You're…you're…that guy, the one I saw Nazo fighting when I looked at the emerald! You're…Mephiles!" Volt slowly started to move back, but Mephiles took a step closer.

"And Nazo thinks Me evil." He said, his voice soothingly smooth and calm. "But tell me, little Volt, have you known Me to judge Me so?" Volt had to admit that he had never even seen Mephiles in person, so no, he couldn't say that.

"No…" he said quietly. Mephiles smiled, extending a hand to Volt. "Do you know what I am, little one?" Volt thought through what little he knew of Mephiles, not wanting to say the wrong thing. Mephiles, in all of Volt's accidental experiences, referred to himself as a god.

"A god?" he half said, half asked as he took Mephiles' hand. Mephiles pulled Volt to his feet and held the blanket around the porcupine.

"I am the god of order. Do you know what order is?" Volt again frantically looked through his memories, scrambling for an answer. "When you tell someone to do something?" Mephiles chuckled, and patted Volt on the head. Mephiles' paw was warm, and Volt strangely felt safer while Mephiles' hand was on him.

"Order is peace. No fighting, no stealing, no pain. How can I be evil if this is what I bring to the world?"

Mephiles had to be careful to let Volt trust him of his own choice, or Mephiles would fail. He would have just brainwashed the little porcupine into another servant, but then He would not be able to store a little of Himself in the child's soul.

"I guess not." Volt said, his voice a little less shaky. Mephiles placed His hand on Volt again, radiating refuge.

"Volt, would you walk with Me, so that I may show you the peace I bring?" Volt looked around, but couldn't see past the edge of the light the street lamp gave. Biting his lip, Volt decided that he could stay with Mephiles, at least for a little bit. Sonic or Nazo would rescue him if Mephiles turned out to really be a bad guy.

"Okay, but will you promise to take me home?" Mephiles had expected this of course. "Of course." Satisfied, Volt allowed Mephiles to take him across the world, showing him people sleeping soundly in their beds, or enjoying the company of friends, etc.

Nazo stood at the top of the Emerald Shrine, holding the green Master Emerald over his head and muttering something under his breath. Around him, Knuckles, Sonic, Fatal, Metal Sonic, Shadow, Ashura, and Jesse all held a chaos emerald, standing in front of a respective pillar. Nazo finished his mutterings and eyed each chaos emerald.

"I call upon the power of my home; bring the sources together! Let the Masters arrange before me! CHAOS CONTROL!" Nazo had continually glowed brighter as he spoke, and now a huge white flash occurred, blinding everyone there. When the glow faded, none of the heroes around Nazo held chaos emeralds. Instead, Each of the Master Emeralds sat fixed to a pillar upon the Emerald Shrine, and forty-two chaos emeralds orbited Nazo, in a double helix fashion. The seven standing atop the Shrine with the Keeper and those standing below could only stare in awe.

Nazo released the emeralds to orbit their Masters, all six of them. The seventh was atop Nazo's throne in the Chaos dimension, and it's chaos emeralds with it.

"Behold the Masters! These are the gems that have refined the chaos into energy, a power enriched by the heart!" Nazo swung his hand around to indicate all the Chaos jewels before him.

Knuckles stared at the raw majesty of the Keeper amongst the Master Emeralds, and could only piece together one coherent thought.

_Rouge would have a hay day!_ Sonic stared at all the Chaos Emeralds. "That's enough power for me to go super ten times over!" Nazo nodded. "Indeed it is." Shadow and Fatal each took in all the glowing gems, their senses blinded by the sheer might radiating from them.

"Such…power! I've never imagined that this much power was possible!" the black hedgehog remarked. Fatal could not construct a whole sentence, his two sides warring over how to put it. Jesse and Ashura were equally speechless. Metal Sonic fell to his knees, visions of perfection and peace overloading his processor.

"It is…beautiful…" he managed. Nazo floated up and landed on the one empty pillar. "We will use this power to battle Mephiles. His power has not yet exceeded the Masters together, but we must act, or he will surpass even them!" Sonic jumped up in the air.

"Woohoo! This'll be so cool!"

Titan finally made it to the mutated igloo, which had mysteriously survived the constant rain of death the airborne dreadnaughts were delivering; this _had_ to be where Myrmidon was hiding. As Titan stepped up to tear the front of the igloo asunder, sever short, stocky, and extremely muscular…things jumped out from the igloo's low-set entrance, toppling him and a few dreadnaughts.

This particular type of freak was only seen few and far between across the world. While the wyverns were for aerial combat, these brutes were for demolition and melee. The nickname for them was gorgons, but Titan couldn't care less what they were called as he punished one with eyebeams through the head for trying to rip his face off. The massive super-eggpawn righted himself to his feet with a blast from his back jets. Titan turned around and was dismayed to see that three of the five dreadnaughts had been pulled inside-out by the gorgons. Fortunately, the other two had taken care of the pest issue while their comrades were down. Titan spun back around, holding the end of his mace's pole. The spiked wrecking ball collided with the igloo, going through the weak structure with little difficulty. The dreadnaughts came around Titan while his hydraulics stopped his spin, firing at something Titan couldn't yet see, though he still was sure the grotesque cyborg was the target.

Sure enough, a cloud of black nothing passed by Titan as he turned to face front, confirming his suspicion. What he did not expect was to be hit full on in the chest by five beams of midnight purple energy, forcing him back. Myrmidon dodged a crushing blow by one of the dreadnaughts, catching the back of its head with his knife-like claws. Titan locked in the blood colored hedgehog, and fired his eyebeams just as another five-beam attack exploded through the already destroyed dreadnaught and cut through his attack.

Titan hesitated, having seen that the blast had come from somewhere besides the cyborg zealot. Before the bronze prototype acted again, he was further shoved back by what seemed to be an intense wind. Titan looked around, and managed to catch a blur of movement. Although his sensor efficiency was still at maximum, whatever had hit him was moving too fast for him to accurately track.

Not that this was a concern of his, as the last of his remaining three dreadnaughts toppled backwards, headless.

Titan swung his mace through the smoke defensively, connecting with what felt like the side of a mountain. Less than a second later, the super-eggpawn was almost pulled forward and off his feet from an alarmingly strong yank on his mace. Titan started to plant his feet, but an all too familiar figure leaped out of the diminishing smoke at him, hands adorned with dark power.

Titan brought his arm up, converting to howitzer lightning fast. Before he could fire though, the blur from earlier knocked his arm to the side. When it passed, Titan could have sworn he heard a feminine voice say, "No you don't!"

Myrmidon connected with Titan, hands pressed against the robot's chest, pushing hard. Titan was ready though, and was already blasting his jets and revving his skates against the cyborg. Myrmidon looked up at him, surprised. The bronze prototype deftly swatted the hedgehog to the side with his hand, simultaneously yanking on his mace. As expected, Myrmidon was forced away, and not without the satisfying _oomph_ of knocking the wind out of him. The smoke had settled totally now, revealing a mountain of hydra-shaped muscle holding Titan's mace with it's front feet, and grinning wickedly at him from five faces at once.

"Well ain't you a beauty?" Titan asked sarcastically as he zapped the monster's paws. His weapon free, Titan gripped it with both hands and parried just as the super-fast attacker swooped in again.

Having been countered, Fezrinn banked and landed next to Myrmidon, who was just standing up after catching his breath.

"It would appear you were wrong about the great warrior, mighty one. He is adapting to us, all the while our fellows are being exterminated above!" A short distance away, Brahkoth advanced on the massive robot, trying to encumber his enemy by forcing him to defend from five directions at once.

"Brahkoth is a fool if he thinks he can stand against this enemy alone when we have hardly been succeeding together!" Myrmidon swung a hand at her, although she was out of striking range.

"Silence! Have you forgotten the time stone? We simply have not been fighting properly." Myrmidon's forearm slid open, letting the dark jewel fall into his hands. The cybernetic hedgehog held the stone so that it obscured his view of the robot.

"Observe as the powers Mephiles has given to us overcome our foe. STANDSTILL!" a bubble quickly expanded from the stone, freezing everything inside to a 'standstill' of time. Unlike the negative effect of chaos control, everything just looked paused, like a crystal-clear portrait.

Myrmidon sprinted at the huge robot, grinning. The blood-red hedgehog jumped into the air and curled into a spinning ball as time slowly started moving again. The bubble popped as Myrmidon struck the prototype super-eggpawn, crashing him sideways into the ground. Brahkoth stumbled as his momentum carried him through the open space left by Myrmidon.

Titan boosted his jets again, strafing him forward, barley off the ground. Pulling around to face the three dark beings, Titan angled up onto his feet again. His sensors read that the combat above him was still going strong, the dreadnaughts couldn't always hit the more agile wyverns, who couldn't easily damage the powerful dreadnaughts.

Taking advantage of the apparent reprieve, Titan's skated retracted as he dropped his mace to a slightly less hostile position, but not letting his guard down anyway.

"So Myrmidon, I see you have some new friends." He said casually. Myrmidon looked at his companions, only to see them staring expectantly at him.

"Indeed. Mephiles saved us from your Eclipse Cannon, and lifted up two of our number to a higher state of being." Titan chuckled mockingly at the cybernetic hedgehog.

"To coin a phrase, you really believe that means something? Look around you! Do you really think you can conquer the world with the rag-tag forces you've got left? I mean, you're out of foot soldiers and your air force is screwed up there." Myrmidon crossed his arms and scoffed.

"Perhaps you did not realize it, but we have new weapons to use against you. Numbers are hardly important when you can freeze time." Titan scowled in disbelief. "So Mephiles has taught you how to use chaos energy?" Myrmidon's five-headed friend jumped forward so that he was closer to Titan than Myrmidon.

"How dare you even insinuate that we would use your unholy powers to fight you! Our power comes from Mephiles Himself!" The raven squawked at the hydra. "Be quiet, Brahkoth! One would think that a being with five brains would have more wisdom!" Myrmidon turned angrily to the raven. "You be quiet, Fezrinn! I am His chosen, so I will say when to speak and when to hold your tongue!" Titan laughed at them loudly, bringing their attention back to him.

"You three are Mephiles' most powerful followers? Hah! I suppose you argue over who and what to attack, too!" Myrmidon squeezed his fists tight while Brahkoth growled softly next to him.

"I hope Mephiles is more organized than you three, otherwise we've all been worried over nothing this whole time!" Titan rolled his alloyed cranium back, laughing. Brahkoth pawed the snow with his forelegs, growling. Myrmidon continued to clench his fists, while Fezrinn stood aloof.

Brahkoth eyed his fellows, seeing that neither would stop him if he acted. Not wanting to let insults to his god go unpunished, the hydra charged at Titan, using his wings to propel him out of Myrmidon's grasp before the cyborg could stop him.

Titan continued to laugh, now in part because the hydra, whom the raven had called 'Brahkoth' was barreling through the snow at him, and Titan could see by sensors as well as sights. Brahkoth leaped at the bronze robot once he was near enough, intending to knock him down and tear him apart. Just as he did so, Titan leveled his eyes at Brahkoth, grinning. Brahkoth was forced down on his back by Titan's mace, the massive prototype holding him there.

Myrmidon and Fezrinn had snapped out of their collective 'not listening' poses, running after their partner. Titan put a howitzer in Fezrinn's chest before she could take into the air, and she sprawled across the snow at the still running Myrmidon. Titan aimed his cannon at the hedgehog and fired. Myrmidon's form froze in a violet silhouette, disappearing as he reappeared just in front of the explosive shell. Titan recovered by firing his eyebeams at the blood-red hedgehog, exploding the ground beneath his feet. Myrmidon flung forward. Titan caught him out of the air and held the cyborg in front of his face.

"I would think that when someone says that they're a god, they would keep their followers a little less naive." Myrmidon struggled fruitlessly to free his arms from the robot's grip.

"Perhaps Mephiles is only testing us, great warrior. Mephiles is a god, and-" Titan shook Myrmidon a bit, and spoke in a mocking high-pitched tone. "Mephiles is an god, Mephiles is a god! 'Bunch of BS I say! And I suppose you'll keep calling me 'great warrior' until I tell what my name is?" Myrmidon stayed silent, glaring at Titan.

"Here's a hint. What was the one kind of being that could ever give the gods trouble?" Myrmidon blinked, not understanding. Titan's synthetic mouth slid into a sickle-shaped grin as he brought his hand back like the wind-up to a pitch.

"The Titans!" he bellowed, throwing myrmidon into the struggling body of Fezrinn.

Volt sat on the edge of a skyscraper overlooking the city of Station Square at night. Volt's legs dangled over 80 stories of open air, but he was completely unconcerned. If he fell, Mephiles would catch him. Not that Mephiles would let him fall in the first place. Volt could see the entire city from here, all the lights adorning the taller buildings, all the streetlights and billboards, all the casino neon. It was a sea of lights, even more breathtaking than the scene in daylight.

Mephiles touched Volt's shoulder. "You see little one, nighttime is a time of greater peace. All the people sleeping, all the noises of the day have been hushed. Even armies at war take the night to rest." Volt craned his neck to look up at Mephiles.

"But why do people get scared when they're in the dark?" Mephiles looked out across the city. "Have you ever heard the saying, 'there is nothing in the dark that wasn't there in the light'?" Volt looked back out across the city, wondering exactly what Mephiles was seeing. "Yes, Ella told me that the first night I stayed at the mansion. Well, the first time I knew I was there, anyway." Mephiles nodded and continued.

"The saying is not entirely accurate. There is something in the dark that was not there in the light. Order." Volt scrunched his face up, confused.

"People are afraid of the dark because they have become part of a world that thrives off of chaos and crisis, where the dark brings order and peace. They do not want to be outside of their comfort zone." Volt had spotted the previously mentioned mansion, and stared at it longingly. Mephiles' blanket indeed kept him warm, but Volt already missed the hearty maid and the strict butler, though they may not yet know he was gone.

Mephiles stared at Volt for a minute before He followed the child's gaze. Volt was a curious child, whose childhood so far had been quite miserable, excluding the past month and a half. In all reality, Mephiles truly liked Volt. The little orange porcupine seemed more in order than even His most zealous followers. Originally, Mephiles was going to steal away a piece of Volt's soul, and replace it with a little of His. But after spending the last few hours with him, He couldn't bring Himself to do it. After all, how could He call Himself a god of peace if He deceived children and used them as shields against His enemies? Mephiles was by no means any less sure of what would happen to Him in merely a matter of hours, but He couldn't molest Volt's soul, no matter what the excuse was.

Volt was blissfully unaware of the conflict going on inside Mephiles, instead dreaming of what delicious leftovers there would be waiting for him in the fridge. Volt turned around to say something to Mephiles, but then he saw the troubled look on the god's face.

"Is something wrong, Mephiles?" he asked innocently. Mephiles blinked, and then looked at Volt with a smile.

"There are plenty things wrong, Volt. But none that one should worry over." Mephiles looked out towards the ThorneDyke Estate and frowned.

"I suppose I should take you to your home before the dawn." Volt sighed, clambering off the half-wall he had been sitting on, back onto the roof of the skyscraper.

"Do you think I could convince Nazo that you're not evil?" Volt asked hopefully. Mephiles shook His head. "No, nor do I think you should tell him that you have been with Me. He will not appreciate it." Volt stared at Mephiles, wondering what could make a god so worried.

"Will we be able to talk again?" he asked half-heartedly.

Mephiles inwardly bit His lip. He would not enslave Volt's soul, but He had to do _something._ Thinking of all the possibilities of remaining in existence even if His body was destroyed, an idea came to Him. If the demon Chaos could be kept within the Master Emerald, why couldn't He be kept in a similar fashion? He had already given Myrmidon the first of His new time stones, since the originals were obliterated by the paradox that destroyed Iblis, but kept Mephiles alive. Mephiles held out His right hand to Volt, palm side up. At first, Volt thought to put his hand on Mephiles', but Mephiles held up a finger. Slowly, the basic image of a cut jewel formed in His hand, then its form solidified, becoming a midnight violet gem shaped exactly like a chaos emerald, although less than half the size.

Volt took the jewel out of Mephiles' hand and stared at it. It looked like a black chaos emerald, but completely different at the same time. Inside the gem was what Volt could only describe as a picture of the night sky, with the constellation of an unlit candle in the center of the picture.

"What is it?" he asked dumbly, not even realizing he had spoken. Mephiles clutched His chest, having torn a piece of His soul away and placed it in the gem.

"It is a soul emerald. Keep it with you, and I will always be right there with you." Volt peered over the soul emerald at Mephiles, who quickly put His hand down before Volt could see that He was ill at ease.

"But I have to keep it a secret from the others, or they'll take it away?" Mephiles started to nod, but stopped Himself and shrugged instead.

"That is up to you. The emerald belongs to you now, so I will try to control how you keep it, for that would be chaos and not peace." Mephiles walked up to Volt and put His arm around the porcupine's shoulder.

"Now to take you home." He said, and the two of them were suddenly standing in Volt's room in the ThorneDyke's mansion.

Mephiles removed the blanket from Volt's shoulders, disintegrating it into ethers. "Sleep now, little one. Be at peace until the chaos of the day."


	33. Chaos Vs Order Episode 33

Episode 33: The Sequence of Order; What Comes To Pass

Jesse flexed his perfectly-toned biceps, floating in the air above the Chaos Shrine in Hyper-Form. Up beside him were Ultra-Ashura and Ultra-Sonic. While the two were a shimmering gold in their super-forms, the twins were almost white, but with a reddish tint, and the fire enveloping them was a deep crimson. Shadow and Fatal were in their Ultimate forms, which looked exactly the same as the twins' Ultra forms, save for the fact that their tint was blue, along with their fiery aura. Knuckles and Metal Sonic were also in an Ultimate form, but they appeared with a green tint and bright emerald green auras. Nazo himself also seemed to have changed, but only in his aura. The fire rolling off of The Keeper of Chaos could not be traced, for when you looked at it, it would appear to be sky blue, and then you would see sea green, and then royal purple, etc.

Jesse's aura and his hair changed color in a similar fashion, but they only cycled through six colors.

Nazo looked over the group in front of him. "Mephiles will not be able to stand this much power all at once. That doesn't mean this will be easy, but rest assured that we will beat Mephiles!" Nazo turned westward and began flying, the others following close behind.

Mephiles hovered in the air about a mile out into the Station Square bay, watching as the heroes came for Him. The longer it took them to come to him, the stronger he would be, and the farther they were from the Master Emeralds, the weaker they would be. So perhaps there was indeed a chance. Perhaps. Mephiles had only to play His cards right.

Nazo halted a good ways away from Mephiles, enough so that one could hardly make out the dark god's features amongst the night. Sonic and Shadow came up on Nazo's right and left.

"There he is." Shadow stated, pointing. Sonic peered at where Shadow was pointing, and saw Mephiles as lightning struck behind the dark god.

"He's all alone out there! Pretty sure of himself, ain't he Shadow?" Shadow 'humphed'. Metal Sonic came abreast with Sonic while Ashura came abreast with Shadow.

"Feels almost like old times again, huh Metal?" Sonic asked his robotic counterpart with a sideways look. Metal Sonic stared at Mephiles as Sonic spoke.

"Yes. Only this time, I will not be the one who is sorry when it is over." Knuckles squeezed between Sonic and Nazo, shoving the former aside.

"So how are we going to do this?" he asked, punching his fists together. Nazo inhaled deeply. "We have to take him out as fast as we can, because every moment he stays standing is another measure of strength added to his incredibly vast reservoir of power." Fatal flew over the top of them all. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's do this already!"

Nazo coiled himself back, launching at Mephiles like a shooting star. Sonic, Ashura, Knuckles, Metal Sonic, Shadow, Fatal, and Jesse all dashed forward at the patiently waiting Mephiles.

Mephiles tensed as Sonic came at Him first. Sonic curled into a spin-dash, aimed at Mephiles' head. Mephiles caught Sonic in His hand like a dodge ball, tossing him aside as He prepared to take on the others.

Next was the hybrid, Fatal. The once-navy hedgehog slowed as he neared Mephiles, launching barrages of Chaos spears. Shadow mirrored his half-clone on Mephiles' other side, forcing Him to divert His concentration. Metal Sonic charged between the two Ultimate Life forms, actually catching Mephiles off-guard.

"Chaos Blast!" a dense green beam of lethal chaos energy seared the air between the two as Mephiles brought His hand up to His cheek. Just as the attack would have connected, Mephiles backhanded the ray, angling it harmlessly off to the north.

Sonic had recovered by now, and he and Knuckles closed in on Mephiles for a super-fast melee. Mephiles deflected kick after punch, after punch after kick after kick after kick after punch, until finally Jesse also made in into the melee. Mephiles began taking hits, unable to defend from so many places at once. Enraged, the dark god grabbed the throats of the two Mobians and used them as physical weapons to beat the human back. After Jesse, Sonic, and Knuckles were off Him, Mephiles swung His hand around, pointing at Nazo.

"SMITE!" a lance of dark power shot from the god's fingertips straight at the Keeper's heart. Nazo raised a shield, and the lance collided with it. The smite crept across Nazo's barrier, constricting. Before his shield broke though, Nazo repelled the lance with a bomb-style chaos blast.

The eight Ultra/Ultimate/Hyper beings floated in a circle around Mephiles. Nazo rubbed his neck where his black chain clasp used to be.

"You can't hold out against us all forever, Mephiles." Mephiles folded His arms and scowled at The Keeper. "I don't have to, and you know that."

Brahkoth reeled back as a missile exploded where he had just been standing. Myrmidon jumped in front of him, flinging clouds of darkness at Titan. Said robot was now in the absolute upper hand, having won the battle in the skies. The ground all around the area was littered with scrap metal and the dead bodies of wyverns. Most of the dreadnaughts had indeed been destroyed, but Titan had a healthy thirty-seven of them with which to fight Myrmidon, Fezrinn and Brahkoth. Fezrinn came swooping out of the air again, trailing black fire as she weaved through the dreadnaughts. While the hulking machines were distracted, Brahkoth blew one's head away with his powerful beam attack. Myrmidon ran up on Titan again, clutching the time stone. "Doom lance!" he shouted. A projectile sped away from Myrmidon's palm towards Titan's head. The projectile perfectly resembled a chaos spear, except the whole thing was black. Titan shot through it with his eyebeams, only to be kicked in the side of the head by Myrmidon's metal foot. Titan staggered to the right a bit, but recovered with a swing from his mace. The top spike of the mace caught Fezrinn's underbelly as the zoomed past, spilling black blood across the snow. Brahkoth turned two heads in Titan's direction and used his breath attack, but Titan boosted out of the way. Myrmidon jumped off of the Dreadnaught he had landed on, allowing its comrade's missile to blow open its torso. "Doom lance!" three more of the projectiles arced through the air at the dreadnaughts, but one missed its target. The dreadnaughts maintained a steady tracking on Fezrinn as best they could, meanwhile launching salvos of rockets at the hydra. Titan boost-jumped into the air, bringing the head of his mace down on the snow in front of Brahkoth. The ground exploded, sending the hydra flying. Fezrinn sped by and raked Titan's chest with her talons, scoring deep gashed into his armor. Myrmidon jumped through the falling snow at Titan and kicked him in the chest. Titan's chest compartment was torn open, but no serious damage to his internal workings had yet occurred.

"Heh. You three are actually pretty good." Titan said, inspecting the destroyed panel. Brahkoth roared, rolling back three of his heads. "Indeed we are, Titan, for our powers were made to match." The remaining twenty or so dreadnaughts filed around titan, letting him bear the artificially experienced pain while they held off the three opponents.

Myrmidon blip/flashed over the head of one dreadnaught, stuffing its face full of dark clouds. "You know, Titan, you really should consider running along now. I think I could go so far as to say that we're beginning to win." Titan wanted so much to do that, after all, he had cleaned away all of Myrmidon's forces, hadn't he? Just as Titan was about to go back into the fray, a little screen with Eggman on it appeared on the top left corner of his HUD vision.

"Titan, Sonic and company have engaged Mephiles. The G.U.N. are going to try to weaken him with surgically place bombardment. I need you to get back here in one piece, regardless of how many of those monsters are left. Mephiles himself is far more important than any of his goonies." The little screen disappeared, ending the message. Titan looked up at the expectant trio of zealots, and sighed. (synthetically, of course.)

"As much as I hate to end out little party, Eggman has better use for my time than beating up thugs like you three." Myrmidon began to shout at Titan, and so did Brahkoth, but their voices were drowned out by the sound of Titan's and all the remaining dreadnaughts blasting their booster jets, lifting them into the skies.

Mephiles looked around Himself at the beings opposing Him, acting unconcerned by their number. "You believe you have power above Me because of your number? You believe falsely. OMNIPRESENCE!" Mephiles' form became smoke again, puffing out clouds of smog in every direction. The eight heroes quickly closed in on the smoke, but only collided with each other. Each of them rubbed their foreheads (save Nazo) as they backed away. The clouds gathered into shapes, and the shapes took on the form of several hundred bodies. Mephiles' bodies. "Oh my god…How can we beat him now!" Knuckles said shakily, almost choking on the words. Nazo squinted at the many forms of Mephiles as they closed in on the eight heroes, thinking. Throwing out his left hand, Nazo released a shockwave of chaos power, disintegrating the false Mephiles coming at him.

"He has split his form! Each one is much weaker that the whole, but the more you destroy, the stronger the remaining will be! Stay alert!" Knuckles cracked his namesakes and flew at the horde of Mephiles, spinning his arms like saw blades. Shadow eyed the mass of bodies with disgust. "Chaos Spear!" clusters of the golden bolts shot away from the Ultimate life form, annihilating several more Mephiles. Mephiles was a little more coordinated now, moving groups of Himself around, attacking in strafes. The three most annoying of the Chaos-charged heroes were Nazo, Shadow and Jesse. The two former were simply powerful and experienced enough to thwart Him before he could do any real damage. The human's machinegun-like chaos darts attack would pelt His extensions into dust as fast as the stronger, more concentrated attacks of his friends.

"You can't win, heroes. With every passing moment, I grow stronger. By the time you have confined Me back into one body, I will be more powerful than all of you!" the dark god taunted. Fatal did notice that his attacks were beginning to have less effect, and he was having to try harder to avoid the dark lances that Mephiles would project.

Sonic was breathing heavily, clutching his ribcage where one of Mephiles' lances has seared away his flesh. Well, at least it hadn't been as bad as last time… Sonic grimaced, curling into a spin-dash as he neared another flock of Mephiles. Ashura came alongside him, catching him like a ball. "Chaos Powerdrive!" Ashura called out. The jade speedster began spinning faster and faster, still clutching his twin brother. At the peak of his spin, Ashura released Sonic, mass-driving him through several groups of Mephiles, tearing them asunder.

Metal Sonic slashed through Mephiles' face, elbowed another one in the neck, head-butted still another, twisted around and chaos blasted the one he had elbowed, and then twisted around and caught Mephiles' fist, only to be kicked in the side and flung backward by a dark lance.

Metal Sonic's readings showed that he was taking damage more as the fight raged on. Indeed Nazo was right about quelling Mephiles with all possible speed. Metal Sonic leveled his talons at the oncoming group of Mephiles. "Chaos lightning!" blue streaks of energy burst from the robot's extended fingertips, jumping erratically towards their targets before connecting with a thunderous boom. Metal Sonic flew over to where the twins were acting as Paracletes, fighting the enemies before them and letting their partner cover their back. Metal Sonic transformed his right hand into the miniature Eclipse Cannon and began charging as he leveled it at the mass of darkness in front of his counterpart.

Before he could fire, a thick shaft of white light pierced through the clouds, incinerating the mass Metal was targeting, continuing down to strike the ocean. Seconds later, another such blast eliminated the mass around Jesse, though the ones still holding him and the one beating his torso remained. Metal Sonic looked up to see another beam descending from space.

"The _Archmage_. That's what is firing on Mephiles." Metal looked back to the battle, and was about to charge in, when he was grabbed from behind.

"Bow, Metal Sonic! Kneel and spare yourself the suffering!" Mephiles bellowed at him. Metal shoved the mini Eclipse Cannon in Mephiles' face and fired, freeing himself.

"You seem to have pathetic timing, Mephiles." Metal Sonic dashed around another beam as he flew back towards his comrades.

Fatal back-kicked another Mephiles in the fork of his legs, and the form turned to dust. Although he was in the thick of battle, Fatal somehow still found himself enjoying sick humor. Fatal was jarred out of his comedy by a well-placed kick to the back of his head by a rather upset Mephiles. Snarling, the hybrid whipped around to his offender.

"Chaos Saber!" Fatal called as he made a slashing motion with his hand. An orange, almost whip-like line of chaos sliced through the Mephiles body, turning it to smoke.

Jesse grunted as he took yet another strike to the pelvis. Mephiles had split himself to buy time, and it was working; Jesse's aching side told him that much. While he was distracted by the pain in his side, another Mephiles shot up from under him and uppercut him. Jesse kept himself from flying backward by looping around and slamming his left hand into Mephiles' right shoulder. Jesse began to turn away, but was sharply rebuked by another kick, this time across his face. Jesse looked back to the Mephiles he had punched, and he still floated there.

"As you see, you can't just 'poof' me anymore. The end approaches for you." Mephiles sneered. Two more Mephiles caught Jesse around the arms, holding him in place. The Mephiles that had spoken stayed out of kicking range, tapping the knuckles of his right fist. Jesse grimaced and spat in Mephiles' face. Mephiles calmly wiped it away and lowered his open hand. Mephiles curled his fist back, and then shot forward lightning fast, striking Jesse in the chest. The wind was knocked out of Jesse's lungs, and he felt his skin split. Mephiles backed away for another strike. Mephiles' fist was now at his ear; in less than a second, he would deliver another punch. Another after that, and Jesse's heart would be pushing his spine out his back.

Everything went into slow motion as he stared blankly at Mephiles. He wasn't sure how to feel about dieing. Would it be peace for him, or would he cease to exist, and no more? Well, he would find out soon enough. Mephiles began to move toward Jesse, still in slow motion. Time continued to slow down, until the space between Jesse's heartbeats seemed like hours. Mephiles was still coming closer, but he seemed skewed, somehow. Jesse looked at the distortion closer, and saw what looked like an amber blur between him and Mephiles. The latter shifted, apparently looking elsewhere now. The blur gathered more and more mass, becoming a shape. Jesse saw a glint of a shiny, gold-colored object, and suddenly time was moving again.

Super Shadow floated between Mephiles and Jesse, holding the dark god's fist in one of his own.

All the Mephiles across the skies faltered a moment, missing punches, fumbling a block, misaiming a lance. Shadow had surprised Mephiles yet again.

Jesse took the moment to pull free of Mephiles' grip, smashing one of the bodies into the other, and spun around.

"Chaos Darts!" he called, a large blue ball blipping into existence between his arcing palms. The glowing projectiles flew away from his hands, pelting many of the Mephiles. Behind him, he heard the telltale sound of Mephiles becoming smoke. Jesse was about to smile and thank Shadow, but he saw that all the Mephiles across the sky were 'smoking out'.

The black cloud congregated a short distance from Nazo, who faced it with an unwavering glare. Lightning danced in the cloud as it condensed into the form of Mephiles once more. Mephiles looked himself over, observing scars and wounds acquired from the last several minutes.

"Impressive. The powers of Chaos enable you to wound me supernaturally. But really, shouldn't you all be about due for a recharge about now?" Nazo looked behind him, and saw that the fire around each of the heroes was considerably dimmer than they had been. Nazo's own fire was not quite as 'tie dye' anymore either, the colors being rather dulled by the fight.

Mephiles grinned evilly. "Your power runs thin, while Mine runs strong!" Mephiles charged at Nazo, reaching for his throat. Nazo matched this maneuver, closing the distance quite fast. The two collided with a thunderous explosion. Each had indeed gotten a hold on their target, spiraling around as they tried to choke the other. The _Archmage_ had ceased firing when Mephiles gathered himself, and likely was trying to figure out what happened.

Nazo grimaced as Mephiles' hands squeezed his neck. Nazo's strength would hold, but for how long against Mephiles' always growing power was Nazo's concern. Flexing his muscles completely, Nazo glared hard into the unfeeling eyes of the self-proclaimed dark god.

Mephiles likewise glared into Nazo's eyes, matching also the expression upon the Keeper's face. As the two swirled downward, Mephiles could see the utter determination in the Keeper's eyes. Nazo saw only the thing to be done, and had only compassion for those he protected. There was no trace of anarchy or disorder in those eyes, only a tuned mind striving for a single goal.

Knuckles floated amongst the rest of his fellows, a short distance away from the two violently powerful beings. Knuckles could see that Nazo was already tired, and his eyes were beginning to fog. Mephiles was also draining away, his quills turning a pale gray rather than their normal periwinkle.

"Do you think we should help him?" He asked, turning to the others. The group of them looked unsure of how to answer, each with ranging levels of experience. Sonic eventually shook his head.

"I don't think so, not now anyway. Nazo's got a clear shot at beating Mephiles for good, and I personally would not want to screw that up." Ashura scratched his quills, but the others nodded, save Fatal.

"But wouldn't it make more sense to hit him hard while Nazo has him pinned?" the hybrid asked. Metal Sonic shook his head this time. "If Nazo had expected us to be fighting at the present moment, he would have called us in. At this point, going in would only force Nazo to waste precious energy on telling us to get away." Fatal frowned at Metal's answer, but did not speed off.

"If it appears Nazo is losing, we can then approach without worrying about Nazo's precarious position." Metal added.

Nazo's vision was beginning to blur, and as far as the silvery Keeper could tell, Mephiles was not getting any of the same symptoms. Nazo brought his foot up against Mephiles' chest and kicked hard, releasing himself from the dark god's grip. The Keeper flew away from the other, and was immediately joined by the other seven heroes.

"Are you alright, Keeper?" Fatal asked, half-concerned. Nazo rubbed his neck again, although this time trying to ebb the pain instead of his usual reason.

"I am. There was something about him though, when I looked in his eyes. Something… familiar." Jesse and Metal Sonic kept sharp eyes on Mephiles a ways away, not speaking, but simply watching.

"He is getting weaker, Nazo. Just as our auras have started to dull, so have his quills. Look." Metal pointed at Mephiles. Nazo indeed looked, and saw.

"Than we already have the advantage. But we're running out of power. I need to bring the Emeralds closer to us, or we need to be closer to the Emeralds." Shadow's eyes half closed, the Ultimate life-form coming up with ideas.

"If the strongest of us can at least distract him while one or two of us bring us the Emeralds, we would be able to have all the power we need."

Nazo shook his head. "No, if even one of us leaves, Mephiles could destroy the remaining seven." After a moment of silence, Nazo looked over his shoulder at the seven heroes.

"Did you not transform using the power of the Masters and their servant emeralds? Your Super Emeralds should still be on your person. Use them, and drain all of their power if it comes to that."

Upon mention of the Super Emeralds, each of the seven revealed their emeralds, remembering that they still had them. Each of them bonded with their Emeralds, recharging their reservoir of power.

"Alright, bring it on!" Sonic cheered. Shadow 'hmphed' at him, and Knuckles cracked his namesakes.

Mephiles continued to watch them as they drew their Super Emeralds. Of course, He already knew the way this would end. But He had seen something in Nazo, a change in the Keeper's eyes. It was almost like Nazo had realized something, like he had seen something in Mephiles that he hadn't noticed before. Unsure of what this meant, Mephiles was also unsure of how to proceed. The fact of not knowing bothered Him, though surprisingly not as much as it would have under any other circumstances, being that He knew the end was here.

The heroes flew towards Him again, refreshed by their Super Emeralds. Thinking of his inevitable home inside the soul emerald and sighing, Mephiles moved to meet them.

Ashura, Sonic, and Metal Sonic curled into spin-dashes as they approached Mephiles. Jesse, Fatal, and Shadow charged Chaos attacks alongside Nazo while Knuckles charged in to follow up on the triple spin-dash.

Sonic hit first, being deflected off to Mephiles' left. Unfortunately for the dark god, this opened him up to be struck by Ashura and Metal Sonic. The two hedgehogs collided with Mephiles, Ashura square in his chest, Metal in his left shoulder. Mephiles cried out, clutching a now bleeding arm socket. Knuckles rammed into him bellowing, slamming his spiked fist hard into Mephiles' stomach. Jesse, Fatal and Shadow released chaos blasts on Mephiles the second Knuckles was clear. Shadow's beam was a golden yellow, Fatal's a vibrant orange, and Jesse's a luminescent blue. Mephiles raised a hand to ward off the attack, and did manage to generate a shield, but it only blocked a small percentage of the attack before collapsing.

Nazo moved in slowly towards the smoking, bleeding, panting Mephiles. The darkness streamed out of Mephiles' body and disappeared without a trace, making Nazo ever more suspicious of what he thought he might have found.

"Mephiles?" Nazo asked calmly. Mephiles raised his head to look dully at the Keeper. "What do you wish to impart to Me before I am destroyed?" Nazo looked genuinely sad, much to both Mephiles' and the other's surprise.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Mephiles. I know that you are not a god, because I know that there is only one God, and you are not Him. If you can accept that, then there is hope for you. If you cannot, I will be forced to end you."

Mephiles looked at him long and hard. In Mephiles' mind, He was indeed the one true god left in existence. But then, how could he be a god if he did not know for absolutes every detail of every thing in the entire universe? How could He call himself a god if He was not all-powerful, and as such able to swipe away Nazo, Sonic, Shadow or anyone who opposed Him? Was He a god? Or was He something else?

Finally Mephiles inhaled, breathing in what would likely be His last until a time far in the future. "Destroy Me." Mephiles demanded. "I will not be ruled by you or anyone. Solaris was destroyed to give life to My brother and I. My brother was destroyed to keep Me alive, and now you will end Me." Nazo's shoulder's slumped slightly.

"So be it." He said quietly. The skies lit up as if it were daytime, and continued to glow brighter. The focal point of the light was a sword that had formed in Nazo's hand, made of pure chaos energy. Soon even the seven could not be seen through the growing light, much like stars that disappear in the morning sky.

Out of the shining void, Sonic heard the sound of a sword being driven through flesh. Mephiles cried out, the sound lasting until the life of the one the voice belonged to did not hold the energy to speak any more.

The light faded, slowly at first, but after a minute, the skies were normal again, the sun rising in the east.

The seven heroes were slightly disoriented at first, as they were suddenly standing atop the Emerald Shrine at the pinnacle of Angel Island. They had all been reverted back to their normal forms, along with the Shrine itself. The Super Emeralds were arrayed at their feet, suddenly charged full with Chaos energy. As for Nazo and Mephiles, no sign of them was to be seen. Well, Mephiles anyway.

Sonic and Knuckles looked down at the long, thin crystal laying at their feet. Knuckles picked it up gingerly, staring at it.

"Do you think he… died?" the red echidna asked. Sonic scratched his quills as the others came around.

"Of course he lived! He was the Keeper of Chaos, and Chaos is still around." Fatal said angrily, proving his point with a snap of his fingers than generated a spark of chaos energy. Shadow turned his head towards the crystal after glaring at the hybrid.

"He used his form as fuel to destroy Mephiles. He's still alive, in that home of his he kept talking about." Knuckles nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. When he first showed up, he said that he had needed to manifest for some reason. I guess that once Mephiles was gone, he had no reason to stay here." Metal Sonic stared also at the crystal.

"Will we ever see him again?" Sonic looked sideways at his counterpart. "After all this time, I'd think I'd know, but, what did he mean to you, Metal?" Metal Sonic clicked his talons together once, and then reached out and caressed the crystal lightly.

"Eggman may have built me, programmed me, and tested me, not to mention care for me, but Nazo was almost like a father to me. The Keeper taught me, corrected me, and trusted me." Metal turned to look at Sonic.

"And now he's gone." Jesse stood behind the other six with his arms crossed, wondering what to do next. Mephiles had been destroyed, and Nazo had departed – presumably for good this time – So what was next for him? The President's term would be over in another three months, and then the Brothers would scatter, inventing new identities and disappearing into the masses of citizens. Where would Jesse go? He was the first human to discover the ability to use chaos energy since chaos energy had been discovered, or from what Nazo had once said, re-discovered. He still had his mecha suit, so perhaps he would tag along with Sonic the Hedgehog and see what new adventures popped up. After all, The hedgehog was never bored for long, hopping from adventure to adventure.

Fatal looked at his six comrades. Yes, comrades. Although Fatal was loyal to Doctor Eggman and the Eggman Empire, Fatal had come to enjoy the company of his two predecessors, Sonic and Shadow, and also the strong guardian Knuckles. Metal Sonic he had at first harbored hatred for, but now he admired the robot like an older brother. Jesse impressed him, being the first human he had ever seen who had manipulated chaos energy without the aid of a machine. Not even Doctor Eggman had done that.

Ashura whistled, looking at the rising sun. "Now that's a pretty sight." Sonic followed his brother's gaze and smiled. Shadow stepped closer to Knuckles.

"What are you going to do with that?" The black hedgehog asked, implying Nazo's crystal. Knuckles hefted it from one hand to another. "I'm not sure. I could leave it on the Master Emerald, that way Nazo can come back instantly if he needs to, but that opens it up for Rouge to steal it." Shadow placed his hand on Knuckles shoulder.

"I might be able to help with that. She seems to listen to me more than most other people." Metal Sonic couldn't help but comment on that. "Have you perhaps considered that Rouge is like that because she likes _you_?" Shadow blinked in surprise.\

"Of course I thought of that, but I ruled it out. She has told me man times her opinion of Knuckles." Knuckles crossed his arms.

"Oh? And what might that be?" Shadow looked back to him. "She finds you attractive, and she admires your unfailing loyalty to the Master Emerald." Knuckles wanted to tell Shadow rather loudly that he just made up that last part, but he let it stand.

Jesse sat down on the ground as Fatal walked by. "What about you, Fatal? What are you going to do now?" Fatal inhaled deeply an exhaled slowly.

"I am still loyal to Doctor Eggman, but I have a feeling that between him finding out that I have sometimes not told him things and how Titan has more than proved his worth, I might have some time to rest and think about what to do with my life." Jesse nodded. "Anything special?" he asked. Fatal shrugged. "Rivalry with Sonic and Shadow is a given, but I've actually have a lot to learn when it comes to enjoying life. I'll adapt, though. The ones I was modeled after get along fine, so I'm not worried."

Jesse nodded again, looking away. Sonic turned around and stuck out his hand to Fatal.

"Nice workin' with you, Fatal. Dare I say you're a chip off the old block. The old block being Shadow and all." Fatal shook Sonic's hand, grinning. Shadow whipped around and stalked up to the two blue hedgehogs, although he glared at Sonic.

"Don't let him fool you. All your power comes from me, and your recklessness from him." Sonic pretended to look hurt.

"Aww, that's not very nice Shadow! I thought we were friends!" Shadow rolled his eyes, but did smile and extend his hand to Fatal as well. Fatal shook Shadow's hand as well.

Ashura came over to Sonic. "Well, see you all later. I've gotta make sure that nothing else weird happens while I'm not looking." Sonic nodded, and the two of them chaos-controlled away using their Super Emeralds. Fatal shrugged.

"Until next time. Expect to be seeing me more often, now that Eggman has an established nation." Shadow 'hmphed' again.

"And don't think that to be permanent. Sonic always finds a way to beat the Doctor." Shadow lightened his gaze fore a minute. "Bear the powers you possess well, Fatal the Hedgehog. Never let them control you, or you'll end up worse than me." And with that, the black hedgehog chaos-controlled away. Fatal Likewise Chaos-controlled away, leaving Jesse with Knuckles.

"So, do you think Nazo will be coming back anytime soon?" Jesse asked, rising to his feet. Knuckles laid the crystal down upon the Master Emerald very gently.

"I'd like to say both yes and no. Yes, because Nazo was a great teacher. No, because he only comes when the situation is so dire that no-one else could handle it." Jesse sighed.

"I suppose you're right. Although, it would also be helpful if I had a way down to the mainland." Knuckles looked oddly at him for a moment, and then started laughing. After an hour or so, Tails and Sonic came back for Jesse in the X-tornado.

Walking over to the top stairs, Knuckles turned around and sat down, guarding the Emerald as he always had.


End file.
